*> 


THE    MINSTRELSY    OF    THE 
SCOTTISH    BORDER 


A'  for  the  sake  of  their  true  loves  : 
I  ot    them   they'll   see   nae    mair. — 


See  />.  4. 


The  ^Minstrelsy  of  the 
Scottish   "Border 

COLLECTED  BY 

SIR   WALTER   SCOTT 


EDITED  AND  ARRANGED 

WITH  INTRODUCTION  AND  NOTES 

BY 

ALFRED  NOYES 


AND    SIX    ILLUSTRATIONS 
BY 

JOHN  MACFARLANE 


NEW  YORK 
FREDERICK  A.  STOKES   COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 


•  •  *    «         * 


TO 

MARGARET  AND  KATHARINE  BRUCE 

THIS   EDITION   OF   A    FAMOUS   BOOK   OF   THEIR   COUNTRY 

IS   DEDICATED 

WITH   THE   BEST   WISHES  OF   ITS   EDITOR 


:593:3£>3 


CONTENTS 


Sir  Patrick  Spens 

The  Wife  of  Usher's  Well 

Clerk  Saunders     . 

The  Tvva  Corbies 

Barthram's  Dirge 

The  Broom  of  Cowdenknows 

The  Flowers  of  the  Forest 

The  Laird  of  Muirhead    . 

Hobbie  Noble 

Graeme  and  Bewick 

The  Douglas  Tragedy    . 

The  Lament  of  the  Border  Widow 

Fair  Helen 

Fause  Foodrage  . 

The  Gay  Goss-Hawk 

The  Silly  Blind  Harper  . 

Kinmont  Willie     . 

Lord  Maxwell's  Good-night 

The  Battle  of  Otterbourne 

O  Tell  Me  how  to  Woo  Thee 

The  Queen's  Marie 

A  Lyke-Wake  Dirge 

The  Lass  of  Lochroyan    . 

The  Young  Tamlane 

vii 


l'AGE 
I 

6 

9 

15 
16 

iS 
23 

25 
26 

32 
39 
43 
45 
47 
53 
60 
64 
72 

75 
81 

83 
88 
90 

97 


CONTENTS 


The  Cruel  Sister  . 
Thomas  the  Rhymer 
Armstrong's  Good-night 


PACE 
1 08 

"3 

128 


APPENDIX 

Jellon  Grame 

Rose  the  Red  and  White  Lilly 

O  Gin  My  Love  were  Yon  Red  Rose 

Annan  Water 

The  Dowie  Dens  of  Yarrow 

Archie  of  Ca'field 

Jock  o'  the  Side    . 

The  Battle  of  Bothwell  Bridge 

The  Daemon-Lover 

Johnie  of  Breadislee 


129 

133 

142 

143 
.46 

149 
154 
160 
163 
166 


Vlll 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


"A'  for  the  sake  of  their  true  loves  ;") 
^  „,  .,,/"..  Frontispiece 

For  them  they  11  see  nae  mair  J 

"And  will  you  be  so  kind,  fair  may,~» 

1        •  our-      Facing  page  16 

As  come  out  and  point  my  way  r '    J 


"O  they  rade  on,  and  on  they  rade, 
And  a'  by  the  light  of  the  moon 


"'Now   sound    out,    trumpets!'    quo' 

Buccleuch  ; 
"'Let's    waken    Lord    Scroope    right  I 

merrilee  ! '  "  J 


64 


"  The  Gordons  good,  in  English  blood,  "i 
They  steep'd  their  hose  and  shoon"J 

"  But    fast    she    gript    the    milk-white^ 

steed,  r  >>  ll2 

And  pu'd  the  rider  down"  J 


IX 


INTRODUCTION 


Few  books  can  give  more  delight  by  the  winter's 
fire,  when  the  sea-wind  shakes  the  windows  and 
roars  in  the  chimney  ;  few  are  better  to  read 
among  the  summer  woods  or  the  blowing  heather; 
fewer  still  can  bring  a  fresher  breath  of  nature 
across  the  minds  of  those  whose  windows  are  only 
shaken  by  the  traffic  of  modern  cities ;  and 
perhaps,  in  this  day  of  small  decadent  subtleties 
and  malodorous  morbidities  of  "  Art,11  no  book 
in  the  world  can  be  of  better  service  to  the  cause 
of  true  poetry  than  the  famous  Minstrelsy  of'  the 
Scottish  Border.  Here,  certainly,  turning  from 
the  lotus-flowers  of  most  modern  verse,  as  from 
the  gardens  of  Circe  and  her  swine,  we  "  feel  the 
brine  salt  on  our  lips "  and  the  large  Homeric 
air  again.  The  poets  here  are  "  trumpets  that 
sing  to  battle 11 ;  and,  in  their  simple  truth  of 
speech,  the  "  unacknowledged  legislators  of  the 
world.11 

The  present  edition  seeks  to  remove  two  serious 
obstacles  which  have  hitherto  interfered  with 
the  complete  enjoyment  of  the  book — first,  the 

xi 


INTRODUCTION 

absurdly  large  mass  of  prefaces,  appendices,  "ad- 
vertisements,11 footnotes,  headnotes  and  what-not, 
wherein  Sir  Walter  Scott  saw  fit  to  bury  the 
gems  he  had  just  discovered  and  collected.  The 
bulk  of  these  notes  really  does  become  on  examina- 
tion quite  ludicrous.  It  not  only  prevents  the 
printing  of  the  book  in  a  convenient  form,  but  we 
have  our  unwilling  eyes  dragged  down  from  a 
glorious  ballad  to  a  footnote  wherein,  for  in- 
stance, we  are  informed  that  a  "  hostelrie  "  means 
an  "  inn.11  So  huge  is  the  mass  of  these  notes — 
hundreds  of  them  quite  irrelevant,  and  ranging 
over  all  the  literatures  of  the  world  in  order  to 
find  the  most  remote  parallels  to  some  extremely 
simple  verse — so  huge  is  the  mass  of  these  dis- 
quisitions that,  after  cutting  the  ballads  bodily 
out  of  the  edition  before  us,  its  four  bulky  vol- 
umes remain  apparently  intact  and  undiminished. 
The  second  obstacle  to  the  complete  efficiency  of 
the  book  was  the  curious  intermixture  of  a  certain 
amount  of  thoroughly  bad  and  paltry  work  which 
blurred  the  effect  of  the  great  ballads  and  poems, 
and  was  certainly  a  serious  blot  on  Scott's  achieve- 
ment in  collecting  these  latter;  for  it  does 
indicate  a  lack  of  the  artistic  conscience  and  also 
of  a  right  respect  for  some  of  the  greatest  things 
in  our  great  poetic  literature.  Sir  Walter  Scott 
was  of  an  amiable  nature  where  ladies  were  con- 
cerned; but  he  carried  his  amiability  too  far  when, 
amongst  such  minstrelsy  as  the  "  grand  old  ballad 
of  Sir   Patrick    Spens,11  he  included  the  fatuous 

xii 


INTRODUCTION 

outpourings  of  Miss  Anna  Seward,  whose  odd 
blend  of  English  and  Scottish  phraseology  must 
strike  even  an  Englishman  as  ludicrous.  Here  is 
a  specimen  of  her  "  Freebooter's  Farewell " — 

"  Farewell,  my  deep  glens,  speck't  wi'  sloes, 
O'  tangled  hazels  full  ! 
Farewell,  my  thymy  lea,   where  lows 
My  kine,  and  glourin'  bull  .   .    . 

Farewell,  my  gowk,  thy  warning  note 

Thou  aft-times  ca'd  aloud, 
Tho'  o'  the  word  that  thrilled  thy  throat, 

Gude  faith,   I  was  na  proud  ! 

And,  pawkie  gowk,  sae  free  that  mad'st, 

Or  ere  I  hanged  be, 
Would  I  might  learn  if  true  thou  said'st, 

When  sae  thou  said'st  to  me." 

Another  even  more  lamentable  instance,  from 
an  artistic  point  of  view,  is  the  quite  superfluous 
second  part  to  the  "  Flowers  of  the  Forest "  (which 
the  kindly  Sir  Walter  also  added  to  please  a  lady 
author),  a  second  part  so  hopelessly  devoid  of  even 
the  most  elementary  merit  that  it  is  really  a 
desecration  of  the  tender  charm  of  the  first  part 
to  print  them  side  by  side.  The  removal  of 
Scoffs  annotations,  some  superfluous  matter  of 
this  kind,  and  one  or  two  pieces  of  secondary 
merit,  leaves  us  with  a  small  volume  of  poems, 
many  of  which  are  acknowledged  to  be  among 
the  finest  roug-h  diamonds  unearthed  from  all  the 
fields  of  poetry.  These  we  have  tried  to  re- 
arrange with  a  view  to  the   unity  of  the  book 

xiii 


INTRODUCTION 

and  to  the  reading  of  the  poems  consecutively. 
They  have  been  grouped,  therefore,  in  sueh  a  way 
as  to  make  the  transitions  from  ballad  to  ballad 
easy  and  effective,  and  to  display  each  poem  in 
its  best  setting  and  light. 

A  few  of  these  poems  have  been  saved  from 
their  friends,  and  made  familiar  to  the  world  at 
large  by  anthologies.  "  The  grand  old  ballad  of 
Sir  Patrick  Spens "  (as  Coleridge  called  it  in  one 
of  his  poems)  is  known  wherever  English  poetry  is 
loved,  though  not  perhaps  in  the  full  form  given 
here.  Its  opening  is  one  of  the  simplest  and 
grandest,  perhaps  the  simplest  and  grandest,  in  all 
heroic  poetry.  The  openings  of  at  least  two  of  the 
world's  immortal  epics  are  less  majestic  than  the 
two  first  lines  of  that  rude  and  simple  ballad — 

"The  King  sits  in  Dunfermline  town 
Drinking  the  blude-red  wine." 

A  few  others,  like  the  "  Twa  Corbies,"  "  Fair 
Helen,"  and  "  The  Flowers  of  the  Forest,"  have 
reached  the  wide  public  of  the  Golden  Treasury. 
The  "  Twa  Corbies "  is  one  of  the  grimmest 
lyrics  in  any  language,  and  all  the  more  powerful 
for  its  brevity.  Every  line  is  transfused  with  the 
very  essence  of  romance,  from  the  melancholy 
loneliness  of  the  opening  line  and  the  bitter 
tragic  suggestion  of 

"His  lady's  ta'en  another  mate" 

to  the  final  verses  whose  wild  music  seems  to  be 

xiv 


INTRODUCTION 

caught  up  into  the  cry  of  the  wind  over  desolate 
moorlands.  The  raw  cold  vowel-sounds  of  the 
last  two  lines  are  incomparable  in  their  naked 
realism — 

"O'er  his  white  banes,  when   they  are  bare, 
The  wind  shall  blaw  for  evermair." 

"  Fair  Helen,"  again,  is  a  poem  of  great  tender- 
ness and  beauty ;  and  "The  Flowers  of  the  Forest" 
has  a   haunting    charm    of  its    own    in    a   more 
delicate   and    modern   way.      But   another    brief 
ballad    (also    lamenting   Flodden)    was    worthier 
than  the  last,  we  think,  of  a  place  in  Palgrave's 
famous  anthology.     The  "  Laird  of  Muirhead  "  is 
very  brief,  and  it   is   practically  unknown.     We 
have  set  it  next  to  "  The  Flowers  of  the  Forest " 
in   the  present  volume,  so    that  the  reader  can 
make   his    own    comparison.     It  is   unknown    to 
the  anthologist ;  yet  for  simple  truth  and  almost 
Shakespearean  sincerity  and  power  of  expression 
it  is  surely  worthy  of  a  place  in  any  representative 
collection  of  English  poetry.     There  is  very  little 
poetry  outside  Shakespeare  in  which  such  words 
as  "budge"  and  "pith"  are  used  with  natural 
force  and  passion ;   and  when  a  poet   uses  them 
as  "to  the  manner  born"  it  means,  in   certain 
rare  circumstances,  that  he  is  writing  from  the 
heart  of  a  language,  perhaps  from  the  heart  of  a 
people,  and  sometimes  he  will  produce  something 
as  stirring  as  the  "  Laird  of  Muirhead." 

Perhaps  the  greatest  of  all  the  romantic  love- 

xv 


INTRODUCTION 

ballads,  not  only  in  this  book,  but  in  any  book, 
is  "  Clerk  Saunders,"  which  we  have  placed  third 
in  this  volume.  "Nothing  can  have  been  better 
imagined,"  says  an  old  critic  of  this  poem,  "  than 
the  circumstance  of  killing  Clerk  Saunders  while 
his  mistress  was  asleep ;  nor  can  anything  be 
more  natural  or  pathetic  than  the  three  stanzas 
that  follow,  beginning  with 

"  Clerk  Saunders  he  started,  and  Margaret  she  turned, 
etc." 

Nothing  could  be  simpler  or  more  pathetic,  we 
may  add,  than  the  cry  of  Margaret  in  the  forest 
to  her  dead  lover  nigh  his  grave — a  deeply  tragic 
forewhisper  of  which  is  surely  heard  in  the  first 
two  lines  of  the  second  stanza — 

"  '  A  bed,  a  bed,'  Clerk  Saunders  said, 
'  A  bed  for  you  and  me  ! '  " — 

a  whisper  whose  full  meaning  is  only  made  clear 
in  that  later  tragic  cry  of  May  Margaret  in  the 
forest  to  her  lover's  ghost — 

"'Is  there  ony  room  at  your  head,  Saunders? 
Is  there  ony  room  at  your  feet? 
Or  ony  room  at  your  side,   Saunders, 
Where  fain,  fain,  I  wad  sleep  ?  ' ' 

For  depth  of  passion  this  poem  again  is  almost 
unrivalled  outside  Shakespeare.  The  grave- 
diggers1  scene  in  Hamlet  has  curious  points  of 
comparison  with  it,  and  it  is  worthy  of  the  com- 
parison.    We  may  point   out,  in   passing,  that 

xvi 


INTRODUCTION 

Clerk  Saunders  also  was  something  of  a  scholar 
and  casuist. 

Two  poems,  "  Hobbie  Noble  "  and  "  Graeme  and 
Bewick,"11  we  have  included,  side  by  side,  as  work 
of  a  somewhat  ruder  kind.  They  stand  to  their 
companions  as  a  shepherd's  hut  to  a  border  chief- 
tain's stronghold  ;  and,  in  some  ways,  their  versifi- 
cation is  distinctly  less  pleasing.  On  the  other 
hand,  they  have  a  peculiar  crude  chivalry  of 
feeling  which  gives  them  a  general  effect  of  great 
beauty.  The  character  of  Hobbie  Noble  is  a 
very  vital  creation,  and  reminds  one,  in  many 
ways,  of  some  of  Mr.  Thomas  Hardy's  rustic 
heroes.  Very  fine  are  some  of  the  tender  strokes 
in  the  picture  ;  for  instance,  where  the  poet  says 
Hobble's  "  gentle  heart  was  never  sac  sair  as 
when  his  ain  five  bound  him  on  the  brae."  The 
mixture  of  this  tenderness  with  the  beer-drinking, 
loaf-eating,  and  border-riding  atmosphere  occa- 
sionally makes  the  poem  in  its  simple  truth  ap- 
proach the  sublime,  approach  even  to  being  a 
type  of  the  world's  greatest  story  of  a  betrayal. 
Here  and  there,  too,  we  find  a  rude  pictorial 
grandeur,  as  when  Hobbie  cries  to  his  treacherous 
companions — 

"'Awake,  awake,  my  feres  five! 
I  trow  here  makes  a  fu'  ill  day  ; 
Yet  the  worst  cloak  o'  this  company, 

I  hope  shall  cross  the  Waste  this  day.'" — 

It  is  possible  to  have  a  great  affection  for  that 
cloak  of  Hobbie's. 

b  xvii 


INTRODUCTION 

The  other  poem,  "  Graeme  and  Bewick,"  is 
unique  in  ballad-literature.  It  reminds  one  in 
many  ways  of  the  Arthurian  story  of  Balin  and 
Balan.  One  can  hardly  be  wrong  in  finding  a 
secondary  meaning  and  an  undertone  of  great 
pathos  in  the  words  of  young  Bewick — 

"  'But  I  hae  nae  harness,  billie,   on  my  back, 
As  weel  I  see  there  is  on  thine ' "  ; 

and  certainly  there  is  something  very  noble  and 
beautiful  in  the  tale  of  the  tragic  fight  which,  by 
the  foolish  rivalry  of  their  fathers  over  the  wine- 
cups  as  to  which  of  their  sons  was  the  better,  was 
induced  between  two  lads  who  were  sworn  brothers- 
in-arms.  More  than  once,  too,  there  are  gleams 
of  exquisite  poetry,  like  that  which  is  wildly  dashed 
over  the  dark  and  mournful  conclusion  by  young 
Bewick's  last  chivalrous  cry — 

"  '  Gae  dig-  a  grave,  baith  wide  and  deep, 
And  a  grave  to  hald  baith  him  and  me  ; 
But  lay  Christie  Grceme  on  the  sunny  side, 
For  I'm  sure  he  7van  the  victorie.' " 

A  good  contrast  with  these  two  poems  is 
"Kinmont  Willie,11  the  versification  of  which  is 
superb  in  its  rough  vigour ;  indeed,  as  a  blood- 
stirring  poem,  it  ranks  far  higher  in  every  way 
than  the  Scottish  version  of  the  "  Battle  of 
Otterbourne.11  Of  the  English  counterparts  of  this 
latter,  Sir  Philip  Sidney's  famous  words  may  well 
be  true :  "  I  never  heard  the  old  sons;  of  Percie 
and  Douglas  that  I  found  not  my  heart  moved 

xviii 


INTRODUCTION 

more  than  with  the  sound  of  a  trumpet ;  and  yet 
it  is  sung  but  by  some  blind  crowder,  with  no 
rougher  voice  than  rude  style."  But  we  were 
sorely  tempted  to  relegate  the  somewhat  jingling 
and  tinkling  Scottish  ballad  to  an  appendix,  for 
fear  that  it  might  blur  the  effect  of  such  gloriously 
strong  poems  as  "  Kinmont  Willie,'"  in  whose  music 
we  hear  the  gallop  of  horses,  the  sound  of  trumpets, 
and  the  roar  of  mountain  torrents.  The  blood 
must  indeed  be  cold  that  does  not  leap  at  that 
sudden  blast  of 

"  Wha  dare  meddle  -with  me?" 

The  remaining  poems  must  speak  for  them- 
selves, and  they  are  quite  capable  of  doing  so, 
even  though,  like  "  Barthram's  Dirge,"  they  are 
but  fragments,  left  like  some  broken  and  moss- 
grown  stone  amidst  the  heather,  with  many  words 
obliterated  from  their  inscriptions — 

"They  shot  him  dead  at  the  Ninestone  Rig, 
Beside  the  Headless  Cross, 
And  they  left  him  lying  in  his  blood 
Upon  the  moor  and  moss. 

******* 

They  dug  his  grave  but  a  bare  foot  deep, 

By  the  edge  of  the  Ninestone  Burn, 
And  they  covered  him  [o'er  with  the  heather-flower], 

The  moss  and  the  [Lady]  fern." 

We  draw  near  to  the  very  soul  of  romance  when 
we  look  at  these  old  boulders  and  stones  of  poetry, 
and  realise  that  the  words  in  the  above  brackets 
are  only  conjectural,  and  that  the  rest  has  flown 

xix 


INTRODUCTION 

upon  the  wind  or  filtered  through  the  bracken 
with  the  rains  and  gone  down  the  mountain 
torrents  to  the  sea.  Here,  if  anywhere,  we  draw 
near,  surely,  to  the  Eternal  Spirit  of  poetry, 
wherein  all  our  poems  are  lost. 

ALFRED  NOYES. 


XX 


MINSTRELSY    OF 
THE    SCOTTISH    BORDER 


SIR  PATRICK  SPENS 

The  King  sits  in  Dunfermline  town, 
Drinking  the  blude-red  wine  ; 

"  0  whare  will  I  get  gude  sailor 
To  sail  this  ship  of  mine  ?  " — 

Up  and  spake  an  eldern  knight, 
Sat  at  the  King's  right  knee, — 

"  Sir  Patrick  Spens  is  the  best  sailor, 
That  ever  sailed  the  sea.*" — 

Our  King  has  written  a  braid  letter, 
And  seaFd  it  with  his  hand, 

And  sent  it  to  Sir  Patrick  Spens, 
Was  walking  on  the  strand. 

"  To  Noroway,  to  Noroway, 
To  Noroway  o'er  the  faem  ; 

The  King's  daughter  of  Noroway, 
"Tis  thou  maun  bring  her  hame." 


MIMSTREISY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

The  first  word  that  Sir  Patrick  read, 

Sae  loud  loud  laughed  he ; 
The  ueist  word  that  Sir  Patrick  read, 

The  tear  blinded  his  ee. 

"  O  wha  is  this  has  done  this  deed, 

And  tauld  the  King  o1  me, 
To  send  us  out,  at  this  time  of  the  vear, 

To  sail  upon  the  sea  ? 

"  Be  it  wind,  be  it  weet,  be  it  hail,  be  it  sleet, 

Our  ship  must  sail  the  faem  ; 
The  King's  daughter  of  Noroway, 

'Tis  we  must  fetch  her  hame." 

They  hoysed  their  sails  on  Monenday  morn, 

Wi1  a'  the  speed  they  may  ; 
They  hae  landed  in  Norowav, 

Upon  a  Wodensday. 

They  hadna  been  a  week,  a  week, 

In  Noroway,  but  twae, 
When  that  the  lords  o1  Noroway 

Began  aloud  to  say, — 

"  Ye  Scottishmen  spend  a'  our  King's  gowd, 

And  a1  our  Queenis  fee." — 
"  Ye  lie,  ye  lie,  ye  liars  loud  ! 

Fu1  loud  I  hear  ye  lie ; 

"  For  I  brought  as  much  white  monie, 
As  gane  my  men  and  me, 

2 


SIR  PATRICK  SPENS 


And  1  brought  a  half-fou  of  gude  red  gowd, 


.. 


Out  o'er  the  sea  wV  me. 

"  Make  ready,  make  ready,  my  merrymen  a" ! 
Our  gude  ship  sails  the  morn." — 
Now,  ever  alake,  my  master  dear, 
I  fear  a  deadly  storm  ! 

"  Late,  late,  yestreen  I  saw  the  new  moon 

Wi1  the  auld  moon  in  her  arm  ; 
And  I  fear,  I  fear,  my  dear  master 

That  we  will  come  to  harm." 

They  hadna  saiFd  a  league,  a  league, 

A  league  but  barely  three, 
When  the  lift  grew  dark,  and  the  wind  blew  loud, 

And  gurry  grew  the  sea. 

The  ankers  brak,  and  the  top- masts  lap, 

It  was  sic  a  deadly  storm ; 
And  the  waves  cam  o'er  the  broken  ship, 

Till  a'  her  sides  were  torn. 

"  O  where  will  I  get  a  gude  sailor, 

To  take  my  helm  in  hand, 
Till  I  get  up  to  the  tall  top-mast, 

To  see  if  I  can  spy  land  ?  " — 

"  O  here  am  I,  a  sailor  gude, 

To  take  the  helm  in  hand, 
Till  you  go  up  to  the  tall  top-mast ; 

But  I  fear  you'll  ne'er  spy  land." — 

3 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 
lie  hadna  gane  a  step,  a  step, 

A  step  but  barely  anc 
When  a  bout  Hew  out  of  our  goodly  ship. 
And  the  salt  sea  it  came  in. 

"Gae,  fetch  a  web  o'  the  silken  claith, 

Another  o1  the  twine, 
And  wap  them  into  our  ship's  side, 

And  let  nae  the  sea  come  in." — 

They  fetch'd  a  web  o'  the  silken  claith, 

Another  o1  the  twine, 
And  they  wapp'd  them  round  that  gude  ship's  side. 

But  still  the  sea  came  in. 

O  laith,  laith,  were  our  gude  Scots  lords 

To  weet  their  cork-heel'd  shoon  ! 
But  lang  or  a1  the  play  was  play'd 

Thev  wat  their  hats  aboon. 

And  mony  was  the  feather  bed, 

That  flatter'd  on  the  faem  ; 
And  mony  was  the  gude  lord's  son 

That  never  mair  cam  hame. 


The  ladyes  wiang  their  fingers  white, 
The  maidens  tore  their  hair, 

A'  for  the  sake  of  their  true  loves  ; 
For  them  they'll  see  nae  mair. 

O  lang,  lang,  may  the  ladyes  sit, 
Wr  their  fans  into  their  hand, 


SIR  PATRICK  SPENS 

Before  they  see  Sir  Patrick  Spens 
Come  sailing  to  the  strand  ! 

And  Lang,  lane;,  may  the  maidens  sit, 
AYith  their  gowd  kaims  in  their  hair, 

A1  waiting  for  their  ain  dear  loves  ! 
For  them  they'll  see  nae  mair. 

Half  ower,  half  ower  to  Aberdoux, 

Tis  fifty  fathom  deep. 
And  there  lies  gude  Sir  Patrick  Spens, 

Wi1  the  Scots  lords  at  his  feet. 


THE   WIFE   OF   USHER'S   WELL 
A  Fragment 

There  lived  a  wife  at  Usher's  Well", 

And  a  wealthy  wife  was  she, 
She  had  three  stout  and  stalwart  sons, 

And  sent  them  o'er  the  sea. 

They  hadna  been  a  week  from  her, 

A  week  but  barely  ane, 
When  word  came  to  the  carline  wife 

That  her  three  sons  were  gane. 

They  hadna  been  a  week  from  her, 

A  week  but  barely  three, 
When  word  came  to  the  carline  wife, 

That  her  sons  she'd  never  see. 

"  I  wish  the  wind  may  never  cease,1 

Nor  fishes  in  the  flood. 
Till  my  three  sons  come  hame  to  me, 

In  earthly  flesh  and  blood  !  " — 

1  The  sense  of  this  stanza    is  obscure,   owing,   probably,    to 
corruption  by  reciters. 

6 


THE  WIFE  OF  USHER'S  WELL 

It  fell  about  the  Martinmas, 

When  nights  are  lang  and  mirk, 

The  earline  wife's  three  sons  came  name, 
And  their  hats  were  o"1  the  birk. 

It  neither  grew  in  syke  nor  ditch, 

Nor  yet  in  ony  sheugh  ; 
But  at  the  gates  o'  Paradise, 

That  birk  grew  fair  eneugh. 


* 


"  Blow  up  the  fire,  my  maidens ! 

Bring  water  from  the  well ! 
For  a  my  house  shall  feast  this  night, 

Since  my  three  sons  are  well.1' — 

And  she  has  made  to  them  a  bed, 
She's  made  it  large  and  wide ; 

And  she's  ta'en  her  mantle  her  about, 
Sat  down  at  the  bed-side. 


Up  then  crew  the  red  red  cock, 

And  up  and  crew  the  grey  ; 
The  eldest  to  the  youngest  said, 
Tis  time  we  were  away." — 


n  •"■ 


The  cock  he  hadna  craw'd  but  once, 
And  clapp'd  his  wings  at  a1, 

Whan  the  youngest  to  the  eldest  said, 
"  Brother,  we  must  awa. — 

7 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

"  The  cock  doth  craw,  the  (lav  doth  daw, 
The  channerin'  worm  dotli  chide; 

Gin  we  be  mist  out  o'  our  place 
A  sair  pain  we  maim  bide; 

"Fare  ye  weel,  my  mother  dear ! 

Fareweel  to  barn  and  byre ! 
And  fare  ye  weel,  the  bonny  lass, 

That  kindles  my  mother's  fire." 


8 


CLERK   SAUNDERS 

Clerk  Saunders  and  May  Margaret 
Walked  ower  yon  garden  green  ; 

And  sad  and  heavy  was  the  love 
That  fell  thir  twa  between. 

"  A  bed,  a  bed,"  Clerk  Saunders  said, 

"  A  bed  for  you  and  me  !  " 
"  Fye  na,  fye  na,"  said  May  Margaret, 

"  Till  anes  we  married  be ; 

"  For  in  may  come  my  seven  bauld  brothers, 

Wi1  torches  burning  bright ; 
They'll  say—'  We  hae  but  ae  sister, 

And'  behold  she's  wi1  a  knight ! " 


i  ■>■> 


"  Then  take  the  sword  from  my  scabbard, 

And  slowly  lift  the  pin  ; 
And  you  may  swear,  and  safe  your  aith, 

Ye  never  let  Clerk  Saunders  in. 

"  And  take  a  napkin  in  your  hand, 
And  tie  up  baith  your  bonny  een  ; 

And  you  may  swear,  and  safe  your  aith, 
Ye  saw  me  na  since  late  yestreen. " — 
9 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

It  was  about  the  midnight  hour, 

When  they  asleep  were  laid, 
When  in  and  came  her  seven  brothers, 

Wi'  torches  burning  red. 

When  in  and  came  her  seven  brothers, 

Wi1  torches  burning  bright ; 
They  said,  "  We  hae  but  ae  sister, 

And  behold  her  lying  with  a  knight !  * 


Then  out  and  spake  the  first  o1  them, 
"  I  bear  the  sword  shall  gar  him  die  !  v 

And  out  and  spake  the  second  o1  them, 
"  His  father  has  nae  mair  than  he  !  " 

And  out  and  spake  the  third  o1  them, 
"  I  wot  that  they  are  lovers  dear  !  n 

And  out  and  spake  the  fourth  o1  them, 

"  They  hae  been  in  love  this  mony  a  year  !  T 

Then  out  and  spake  the  fifth  o"1  them, 
"  It  were  great  sin  true  love  to  twain  ! "" 

And  out  and  spake  the  sixth  of  them, 
"  It  were  shame  to  slay  a  sleeping  man  !  " 

Then  up  and  gat  the  seventh  o1  them, 

And  never  a  word  spake  he  ; 
But  he  has  striped 1  his  bright  brown  brand 

Out  through  Clerk  Saunders1  fair  bodye. 

1  Striped — thrust. 
IO 


CLERK  SAUNDERS 

Clerk    Saunders    he    started,    and    Margaret    she 
tuni'd 

Into  his  arms  as  asleep  she  lay  ; 
And  sad  and  silent  was  the  night 

That  was  atween  thir  twae. 

And  they  lay  still  and  sleeped  sound, 

Until  the  day  began  to  daw  ; 
And  kindly  to  him  she  did  say, 

"  It  is  time,  true  love,  you  were  awa.11 

But  he  lay  still,  and  sleeped  sound, 

Albeit  the  sun  began  to  sheen  ; 
She  looked  atween  her  and  the  wa, 

And  dull  and  drowsie  were  his  een. 

Then  in  and  came  her  father  dear, 

Said  :  "  Let  sC  your  mourning  be  : 
111  carry  the  dead  corpse  to  the  clay, 

And  111  come  back  and  comfort  thee.1'' — 

"  Comfort  weel  your  seven  sons, 

For  comforted  will  I  never  be ; 
I  ween  'twas  neither  knave  nor  loon 

Was  in  the  bower  last  night  wi1  me.'1 


The  clinking  bell  gaed  through  the  town, 

To  carry  the  dead  corse  to  the  clay ; 
And  Clerk   Saunders    stood    at    May   Margaret's 
window 
I  wot,  an  hour  before  the  day. 

II 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

"  Are  ye  sleeping,  Margaret  ? r  he  says, 
"  Or  are  ye  waking  presentlie  ? 

Give  me  my  faith  and  troth  again. 
I  wot,  true  love,  I  gied  to  thee." — 

"  Your  faith  and  troth  ye  sail  never  get. 

Nor  our  true  love  sail  never  twin, 
Until  ye  come  within  my  bower 

And  kiss  me  cheik  and  chin." — 

"My  mouth  it  is  full  cold,  Margaret, 
It  has  the  smell,  now,  of  the  ground  ; 

And  if  I  kiss  thy  comely  mouth, 
Thy  days  of  life  will  not  be  lang. 

"  O,  cocks  are  crowing  a  merry  midnight, 
I  wot  the  wild  fowls  are  boding  day ; 

Give  me  my  faith  and  troth  again, 
And  let  me  fare  me  on  my  way." — 

"  Thy  faith  and  troth  thou  sail  na  get, 
And  our  true  love  shall  never  twin, 

Until  ye  tell  what  comes  of  women, 
I  wot,  who  die  in  strong  traivelling  ?  w 

4*  Their  beds  are  made  in  the  heavens  high, 
Down  at  the  foot  of  our  good  Lord's  knee, 

Weel  set  about  wi'  gillyflowers ; 
I  wot  sweet  company  for  to  see. 

"  O,  cocks  are  crowing  a  merry  midnight, 
I  wot  the  wild  fowl  are  boding  day ; 

12 


CLERK  SAUNDERS 

The  psalms  of  heaven  will  soon  be  sung, 
And  I,  ere  now,  will  be  miss'd  away." — 

Then  she  has  ta'en  a  crystal  wand, 

And  she  has  stroken  her  troth  thereon ; 

She  has  given  it  him  out  at  the  shot-window, 
Wi'  mony  a  sad  sigh,  and  heavy  groan. 

"  I  thank  ye,  Marg'ret ;  I  thank  ye,  Marg'ret ; 

And  aye  I  thank  ye  heartilie ; 
Gin  ever  the  dead  come  for  the  quick, 

Be  sure,  Marg'ret,  IT1  come  for  thee." — 

It's  hosen  and  shoon,  and  gown  alone, 
She  climVd  the  wall,  and  follow'd  him, 

Until  she  came  to  the  green  forest, 
And  there  she  lost  the  sight  0'  him. 

"  Is  there  ony  room  at  your  head,  Saunders  ? 

Is  there  ony  room  at  your  feet  ? 
Or  ony  room  at  your  side,  Saunders, 

Where  fain,  fain,  I  wad  sleep  ? " — 

"  There's  nae  room  at  my  head,  Marg'ret, 

There's  nae  room  at  my  feet ; 
My  bed  it  is  full  lowly  now : 

Amang  the  hungry  worms  I  sleep. 

"  Cauld  mould  is  my  covering  now, 

But  and  my  winding-sheet ; 
The  dew  it  falls  nae  sooner  down, 

Than  my  resting-place  is  weet. 

13 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

"But  plait  a  wand  o1  bonny  birk, 

And  lay  it  on  my  breasl  ; 
And  shed  a  tear  upon  inv  grave, 

And  wish  my  saul  gude  rest. 

"And  fair  Marg'ret,  and  rare  MargVet. 

And  MargVet  o1  veritie, 
Gin  e'er  ye  love  another  man, 

Ne'er  love  him  as  ye  did  me." — 

Then  up  and  crew  the  milk-white  cock, 

And  up  and  crew  the  grey ; 
Her  lover  vanish'd  in  the  air, 

And  she  gaed  weeping  away. 


H 


THE  TWA  CORBIES 

As  I  was  walking  all  alane, 

I  heard  twa  corbies  making  a  mane ; 

The  tane  unto  the  t'other  say, 

"  Where  sail  we  gan  and  dine  to-day  ?" — 

"  In  behint  yon  auld  fail 1  dyke, 
I  wot  there  lies  a  new-slain  knight ; 
And  naebody  kens  that  he  lies  there, 
But  his  hawk,  his  hound,  and  lady  fair. 

"  His  hound  is  to  the  hunting  gane, 
His  hawk,  to  fetch  the  wild-fowl  hame, 
His  lady's  ta'en  another  mate, 
Sa  we  may  mak  our  dinner  sweet. 

"  Yell  sit  on  his  white  hause-bane, 
And  I'll  pick  out  his  bonny  blue  een  : 
Wf  ae  lock  o'  his  gowden  hair, 
We1!!  theek  our  nest  when  it  grows  bare. 


&" 


"  Mony  a  one  for  him  makes  mane, 
But  nane  sail  ken  where  he  is  gane  : 
O'er  his  white  banes,  when  they  are  bare, 
The  wind  sail  blaw  for  evermair.'1 — 

J  Fail—  turf. 
15 


BARTH RAM'S    DIRGE 

They  shot  him  dead  at  the  Ninestone  Rig, 

Beside  the  Headless  Cross, 
And  they  left  him  lying  in  his  blood, 

Upon  the  moor  and  moss. 


They  made  a  bier  of  the  broken  bough, 
The  sauch  and  the  aspin  grey, 

And  they  bore  him  to  the  Lady  Chapel, 
A-nd  waked  him  there  all  day. 

A  lady  came  to  that  lonely  bower, 

And  threw  her  robes  aside, 
She  tore  her  ling  [long]  yellow  hair, 

And  knelt  at  Barthram's  side. 

She  bathed  him  in  the  Lady- Well 
His  wounds  so  deep  and  sair, 

And  she  plaited  a  garland  for  his  breast, 
And  a  garland  for  his  hair. 

They  rowed  him  in  a  lily-sheet, 
And  bare  him  to  his  earth, 

16 


^s. 


^  -iV* 


V 


iMill    1 1  I 


"And  will  you  be  so  kind,  fair  May, 
As  come  out  and  point  my  waj  ?" 


.SVf  /.   19. 


BARTHRAM'S  DIRGE 

[And  the  Grey  Friars  sung  the  dead  man's  mass, 
As  they  pass'd  the  Chapel  Garth.] 

They  buried  him  at  [the  mirk]  midnight, 

[When  the  dew  fell  cold  and  still, 
When  the  aspin  grey  forgot  to  play, 

And  the  mist  clung  to  the  hill.] 

They  dug  his  grave  but  a  bare  foot  deep, 
By  the  edge  of  the  Milestone  Burn, 

And    they  covered    him  [o'er  with  the  heather- 
flower], 
The  moss  and  the  [Lady]  fern. 

A  Grey  Friar  staid  upon  the  grave, 

And  sang  till  the  morning  tide, 
And  a  friar  shall  sing  for  Barthram's  soul, 

While  the  Headless  Cross  shall  bide. 


B  17 


THE    ORIGINAL   BALLAD    OF   THE 
BROOM    OF   COWDENKNOWS 

O  the  broom,  and  the  bonny  bonny  broom, 
And  the  broom  of  the  Cowden  knows  ! 

And  aye  sae  sweet  as  the  lassie  sang, 
I'  the  bought,  milking  the  ewes. 

The  hills  were  high  on  ilka  side, 

An1  the  bought  i1  the  lirk  l  o1  the  hill, 

And  aye,  as  she  sang,  her  voice  it  rang, 
Out  o'er  the  head  o1  yon  hill. 

There  was  a  troop  o1  gentlemen 

Came  riding  merrilie  by, 
And  one  of  them  has  rode  out  o1  the  way, 

To  the  bought  to  the  bonny  may. 

"  Weel  may  ye  save  an1  see,  bonny  lass, 
An1  weel  may  ye  save  an'  see.11 — 

"  An*  sae  wi1  you,  ye  weel-bred  knight, 
And  what's  your  will  wi1  me  ?  " 

"  The  night  is  misty  and  mirk,  fair  may, 
And  I  have  ridden  astray, 
1  Lirk — hollow. 

18 


THE  BROOM  OF  COWDENKNOWS 

And  will  you  be  so  kind,  fair  may, 
As  come  out  and  point  my  way  ?  " — 

"  Ride  out,  ride  out,  ye  ramp  rider ! 

Your  steed's  baith  stout  and  strong ; 
For  out  of  the  bought  I  dare  na  come, 

For  fear  "at  ye  do  me  wrang.11 

"  O  winna  ye  pity  me,  bonny  lass, 

O  winna  ye  pity  me  ? 
An'  widna  ye  pity  my  poor  steed, 

Stands  trembling  at  yon  tree  ?  " 

"  I  wadna  pity  your  poor  steed 
Though  it  were  tied  to  a  thorn  ; 

For  if  ye  wad  gain  my  love  the  night, 
Ye  wad  slight  me  ere  the  morn. 


*»* 


"  For  I  ken  you  by  your  weel-busket  hat, 

And  your  merrie  twinkling  ee, 
That  ye're  the  Laird  o'  the  Oakland  hills, 

An1  ye  may  weel  seem  for  to  be."1 — 

"  But  I  am  not  the  Laird  o'  the  Oakland  hills 

Ye're  far  mista'en  o"1  me  ; 
But  I'm  ane  o'  the  men  about  his  house, 

An1  right  aft  in  his  companie."1 

He's  ta'en  her  by  the  middle  jimp, 

And  by  the  grass-green  sleeve ; 
He's  lifted  her  over  the  fauld-dyke, 

And  speer'd  at  her  sma'  leave. 

19 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

O  he's  ta'en  out  a  purse  o1  gowd, 

And  streek'd  her  yellow  hair, 
"Now,  take  ye  that,  my  bonny  may, 
Of  me  till  yon  hear  mair." — 

O  he's  leapt  on  his  berry-brown  steed. 

An1  soon  he's  o'erta'en  his  men  ; 
And  ane  and  a1  cried  out  to  him, 

"  O  master,  yeVe  tarrvYl  lang  ! "" — 

"0  1  hae  been  east,  and  I  hae  been  west, 
An1  I  hae  been  far  o'er  the  knowes, 

But  the  bonniest  lass  that  ever  I  saw 
Is  i1  the  bought,  milking  the  ewes.1-' — 

She  set  the  cog l  upon  her  head, 

An'  she's  ijane  singing  hame — 
"  0  where  hae  ye  been,  my  ae  daughter  ? 

Ye  hae  na  been  your  lane."11 — 

"  0  naebody  was  wi  me,  father, 

0  naebody  has  been  wi1  me ; 
The  night  is  misty  and  mirk,  father. 

Ye  may  gang  to  the  door  and  see. 

';  But  wae  be  to  your  ewe-herd,  father, 

And  an  ill  deed  may  he  dee ; 
He  bug2  the  bought  at  the  back  o1  the  knowe 

And  a  tod  3  has  frighted  me. 

1  Cog — milking-pail.     -  Bug — built.     a  Tod — fox. 

20 


THE  BROOM  OF  COWDENKNOWS 

"  There  came  a  tod  to  the  bought  door, 

The  like  I  never  saw  ; 
And  ere  he  had  ta'en  the  lamb  he  did, 

I  had  lourd l  he  had  ta'en  them  aV- 

O  whan  fifteen  weeks  was  come  and  gane, 

Fifteen  weeks  and  three, 
That  lassie  began  to  look  thin  and  pale, 

An1  to  long  for  his  merry  twinkling  ee. 

It  fell  on  a  day,  on  a  het  simmer  day, 
She  was  ca'ing  out  her  father's  kye, 

Bye  came  a  troop  o1  gentlemen, 
A'  merrilie  riding  bye. 

"  Weel  may  ye  save  an1  see,  bonny  may, 

Weel  may  ye  save  and  see ! 
Weel  I  wat,  ye  be  a  very  bonny  may, 

But  whae's  aught  that  babe  ye  are  wi1  ?  "- 

Never  a  word  could  that  lassie  say, 
For  never  a  ane  could  she  blame, 

An"'  never  a  word  could  the  lassie  say, 
But  "  I  have  a  imdeman  at  hame." — 


"  Ye  lied,  ye  lied,  my  very  bonny  may, 

Sae  loud  as  I  hear  you  lie  ; 
For  dinna  ye  mind  that  misty  night 

I  was  i'  the  bought  wi1  thee  ? 

1  Lourd — liefer. 
21 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

"I  ken  you  by  your  middle  sat-  jimp. 

An1  your  merry  twinkling  ee, 
That  yeVe  the  bonny  lass  i1  the  Cowdenknow, 

An"1  ve  may  weel  seem  for  to  be.11 — 

Then  he's  leapt  off  his  berry-brown  steed. 

An1  he's  set  that  fair  may  on — 
"  Ca  out  your  kye,  gude  father,  yoursell. 

For  she's  never  ca1  them  out  again. 


-»" 


"  I  am  the  Laird  of  the  Oakland  hills, 
I  hae  thirty  plows  and  three ; 

An'  I  hae  soften  the  bonniest  lass 
That's  in  a'  the  south  conn  trie." 


22 


THE  FLOWERS  OF  THE  FOREST 

A  Lament  for  Flodden 


I've  heard  them  lilting,1  at  the  ewe-milking, 
Lasses  a'  lilting,  before  dawn  of  day  ; 

But  now  they  are  moaning  on  ilka  green  loaning ; 
The  flowers  of  the  forest  are  a"1  wede  awae. 

At  bughts,  in  the  morning,  nae  blythe  lads  are 
scorning  ; 

Lasses  are  lonely,  and  dowie,  and  wae ; 
Nae  dafling,  nae  gabbing,  but  sighing  and  sabbing  ; 

Ilk  ane  lifts  her  leglin,  and  hies  her  awae. 

In  har'st,  at  the  shearing,  nae  youths  now  are 
jeering ; 

Bandsters  are  runkled,  and  lyart  or  grey  ; 
At  fair,  or  at  preaching,  nae  wooing,  nae  fleeching; 

The  flowers  of  the  forest  are  a'  wede  awae. 

1  The   following   explanation   of    provincial   terms   may   be 
found  useful : — 

Lilting — singing  cheerfully.  Loaning  —  a  broad  lane. 
Wede  awae  —  weeded  out.  Scorning — rallying.  Dowie  — 
dreary.  Daffing  and  gabbing — joking  and  chatting.  Leg/in 
— milk-pail.  Har'st  —  harvest.  Shearing—  reaping.  Band- 
sters —  sheaf-binders.  Runkled — wrinkled.  Lyart  —  inclining 
to  grey.     Fleeching — coaxing.     Gloaming — twilight. 

23 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

At  e'en,  in  the  gloaming,  nac  younkers  are  roaming 
Bout  stacks  with  the  lasses  at  bogle  to  play ; 

But  ilk  maid  sits  dreary,  lamenting  her  deary — 
The  flowers  of  the  forest  are  weded  awae. 

Dool  and  wae  for  the  order,  sent  our  lads  to  the 

Border ! 

The  English,  for  ance,  by  guile  wan  the  day  : 

The   flowers   of  the  forest,  that  fought  aye  the 

foremost, 

The  prime  of  our  land,  are  cauld  in  the  clay. 

We'll  hear  nae  mair  lilting,  at  the  ewe-milking ; 

Women  and  bairns  are  heartless  and  wae  : 
Sighing  and  moaning  on  ilka  green  loaning, 

The  flowers  of  the  forest  are  a1  wede  awae. 


24 


THE  LAIRD  OF  MUIRHEAD 

Slain  "  sub  vexillo  Regis,'5'' — in  the  Field  qfFlodden 


* 


Afore  the  King  in  order  stude 
The  stout  Laird  of  Muirhead, 

Wi'  that  same  twa-hand  muckle  sword 
That  Bartram  fell'd  stark  dead. 

He  sware  he  wadna  lose  his  right 

To  fight  in  ilka  field ; 
Nor  budge  him  from  his  liege's  sight 

Till  his  last  gasp  should  yield. 

Twa  hunder  mair,  of  his  ain  name, 
Frae  Torwood  and  the  Clyde, 

Sware  they  would  never  gang  to  hame, 
But  a1  die  by  his  syde. 

And  wondrous  weel  they  kept  their  troth 

This  sturdy  royal  band 
Rush'd  down  the  brae,  wi'  sic  a  pith, 

That  nane  could  them  withstand. 

Mony  a  bloody  blow  they  dealt, 

The  like  was  never  seen  ; 
And  hadna  that  braw  leader  faU'n, 

They  ne'er  had  slain  the  King. 

25 


HOBBIE  NOBLE 

Foul  fa1  the  breast  first  Treason  bred  in  ! 

That  Liddesdale  may  safely  say ; 
For  in  it  there  was  baith  meat  and  drink, 

And  corn  unto  our  geldings  gay. 

And  we  were  a'  stout-hearted  men, 
As  England  she  might  often  say  ; 

But  now  we  may  turn  our  backs  and  flee. 
Since  brave  Noble  is  sold  away. 

Now  Hobbie  was  an  English  man. 

And  born  into  Bewcastle  dale  ; 
But  his  misdeeds  they  were  so  great, 

They  banish'd  him  to  Liddesdale. 

At  Kershope  foot  the  tryste  was  set, 

Kershope  of  the  lilye  lee ; 
And  there  was  traitour  Sim  o1  the  Mains, 

And  with  him  a  private  companie. 

Then  Hobbie  has  graithed 1  his  body  fair, 
Baith  wf  the  iron  and  wF  the  steel ; 

And  he  has  ta'en  out  his  fringed  grey, 

And  there,  brave  Hobbie,  he  rade  him  week 

1  Graithed — clad. 
26 


HOBBIE  NOBLE 

Then  Hobbie  is  down  the  water  gane, 

E'en  as  fast  as  he  could  hie ; 
Tho1  a'   should   hae   bursten   and    broken    their 
hearts, 

Frae  that  riding-tryst  he  wad  na  be. 

"  Well  be  ye  met,  my  feres 1  five  ! 

And  now,  what  is  your  will  wi'  me  ?  " — 
Then  they  cried  wi1  a1,  ae  consent, 

"  ThouVt  welcome  here,  brave  Noble,  to  me. 

"  Wilt  thou  with  us  into  England  ride, 

And  thy  safe  warrand  we  will  be  ? 
If  we  get  a  horse  worth  a  hundred  pound. 

Upon  his  back  thou  sune  sail  be." — 

"  I  dare  not  by  day  into  England  ride ; 

The  Land-Sergeant  has  me  at  feid  : 
And  I  know  not  what  evil  may  betide, 

For  Peter  of  Whitfield,  his  brother,  is  dead. 

"  And  Anton  Shiel  he  loves  not  me, 

For  I  gat  twa  drifts  o1  his  sheep  ; 
The  great  Earl  of  Whitfield  loves  me  not, 

For  nae  gear  frae  me  he  e'er  could  keep. 

"  But  will  ye  stay  till  the  day  gae  down, 

Until  the  night  come  o'er  the  grund, 
And  ril  be  a  guide  worth  ony  twa 
That  may  in  Liddesdale  be  found  ? 
1  Feres — companions. 
27 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

"  Though  the  night  be  black  as  pick  and  tar, 

I'll  guide  ye  o'er  yon  hill  sae  hie ; 
And  bring  ye  a1  in  safety  back, 

If  yell  be  true  and  follow  me.'" — 

He  has  guided  them  o'er  moss  and  muir, 
O'er  hill  and  hope,  and  mony  a  down  ; 

Until  they  came  to  the  Foulbogshiel, 

And  there,  brave  Noble,  he  lighted  down. 

But  word  is  gane  to  the  Land-Sergeant, 

In  Askerton  where  that  he  lay — 
"  The  deer,  that  ye  hae  hunted  sae  lang, 

Is  seen  into  the  Waste  this  day." — 

"The  Hobbie  Noble  is  that  deer! 

I  wat  he  carries  the  style  fu1  hie  ; 
Aft  has  he  driven  our  bluidhounds  back, 

And  set  ourselves  at  little  lee. 

"  Gar  warn  the  bows  of  Hartlie-burn, 
See  they  sharp  their  arrows  on  the  wa1 ! 

Warn  Willeva  and  Speir  Edom, 
And  see  the  morn  they  meet  me  a\ 

"  Gar  meet  me  on  the  Rodric-haugh, 

And  see  it  be  by  break  o1  day ; 
And  we  will  on  to  Conscouthart-green, 

For  there,  I  think,  we'll  get  our  prey." — 

Then  Hobbie  Noble  has  dreimit  a  dreim, 
In  the  Foulbogshiel  where  that  he  lay  ; 

28 


HOBBIE  NOBLE 

He  dreimit  his  horse  was  aneath  him  shot, 
And  he  himself  got  hard  away. 

The  cocks  "goud  craw,  the  day  "goud  daw, 
And  I  wot  sae  even  fell  down  the  rain  ; 

Had  Hobbie  na  wakened  at  that  time, 

In  the  Fonlbogshiel  he  had  been  ta'en  or  slain. 

"  Awake,  awake,  my  feres  five  ! 

I  trow  here  makes  a  fu'  ill  day ; 
Yet  the  worst  cloak  o'  this  company, 

I  hope  shall  cross  the  Waste  this  day.1* — 

Now  Hobbie  thought  the  gates  were  clear ; 

But,  ever  alas  !  it  was  na  sae  : 
They  were  beset  by  cruel  men  and  keen, 

That  away  brave  Hobbie  might  na  gae. 

"  Yet  follow  me,  my  feres  five, 

And  see  ye  keep  of  me  gude  ray  ; 
And  the  worst  cloak  o'  this  company 

Even  yet  may  cross  the  Waste  this  day.'' — 

But  the  Land-Sergeant's  men  cam  Hobbie  before, 
The  traitor  Sim  cam  Hobbie  behin', 

So  had  Noble  been  wight  as  Wallace  was, 
Away,  alas  !  he  might  na  win. 

Then  Hobbie  had  but  a  laddie's  sword ; 

But  he  did  mair  than  a  laddie's  deed ; 
For  that  sword  had  clear'd  Conscouthart-green, 

Had  it  not  broke  o'er  Jerswigham's  head. 

29 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

Then  they  bae  ta'en  brave  Hobbie  Noble, 
Wi's  ;iin  bowstring  they  bund  him  sae; 

But  h\>  gentle  heart  was  never  sac  sair, 
When  liis  ain  five  bound  him  on  the  brae. 

They  hae  ta'en  him  on  for  west  Carlisle ; 

They  ask'd  him,  if  he  kend  the  way  ? 
Though  much  he  thought,  yet  little  he  said ; 

He  knew  the  gate  as  weel  as  they. 

They  hae  ta'en  him  up  the  Rieker-gate  ; 1 
The  wives  they  cast  their  windows  wide ; 

And  every  wife  to  another  can  say, 

"  That's  the  man  loosed  Jock  o'  the  Side  !  " — 

"  Fy  on  ye,  women  !  why  ca1  ye  me  man  ? 

For  it's  nae  man  that  Fin  used  like ; 
I  am  but  like  a  forfoughen  2  hound, 

Has  been  fighting  in  a  dirty  syke.'1'' 3 

They  hae  had  him  up  through  Carlisle  town, 

And  set  him  by  the  chimney  fire ; 
They  gave  brave  Noble  a  loaf  to  eat, 

And  that  was  little  his  desire. 

They  gave  him  a  wheaten  loaf  to  eat, 

And  after  that  a  can  of  beer ; 
And  they  a'  cried,  with  one  consent, 

"  Eat,  brave  Noble,  and  make  gude  cheir. 

1  Vide  Appendix  lor  the  ballad  of  "Jock  o'  the  Side." 

2  For/oug/icn—quiie  fatigued.  3  Syke— ditch. 

30 


HOBBIE  NOBLE 

"  Confess  my  lord's  horse,  Hobbie,11  they  said, 
44  And  to-morrow  in  Carlisle  thou  's  na  dee.v 

44  How  can  I  confess  them,"  Hobbie  says, 
44  When  I  never  saw  them  with  my  ee  ?  " — 

Then  Hobbie  has  sworn  a  fu'  great  aith, 
By  the  day  that  he  was  gotten  and  born, 

He  never  had  onything  o'  my  lord's, 
That  either  eat  him  grass  or  corn. 


44  Now  fare  thee  weel,  sweet  Mangerton ! 

For  I  think  again  Til  ne'er  thee  see  : 
I  wad  hae  betray 'd  nae  lad  alive, 

For  a'  the  gowd  o1  Christentie. 

44  And  fare  thee  weel,  sweet  Liddesdale  ! 

Baith  the  hie  land  and  the  law ; 
Keep  ye  weel  frae  the  traitor  Mains ! 

For  gowd  and  gear  hell  sell  ye  a\ 

"  Yet  wad  I  rather  be  ca'd  Hobbie  Noble, 
In  Carlisle,  where  he  suffers  for  his  fau't, 

Than  I'd  be  ca'd  the  traitor  Mains, 

That  eats  and  drinks  o1  the  meal  and  maut.' 


3i 


GR.EME  AND  BEWICK 

Gude  Lord  Graeme  is  to  Carlisle  gane ; 

Sir  Robert  Bewick  there  met  he ; 
And  arm  in  arm  to  the  wine  they  did  go, 

And  they  drank  till  they  were  baith  merrie. 

Glide  Lord  Graeme  has  taken  the  cup, 
"  Sir  Robert  Bewick,  and  here's  to  thee  ! 

And  here's  to  our  twae  sons  at  hame ! 

For  they  like  us  best  in  our  ain  countrfe." — 

"  O  were  your  son  a  lad  like  mine, 

And  learn'd  some  books  that  he  could  read, 

They  might  hae  been  twae  brethren  bauld, 
And  they  might  hae  bragged  the  Border  side. 

"Ye  sent  him  to  the  schools,  and  he  wadna  learn  ; 

Ye  bought  him  books,  and  he  wadna  read.11 — 
"  But  my  blessing  shall  he  never  earn, 

Till  I  see  how  his  arm  can  defend  his  head." — 

Gude  Lord  Graeme  has  a  reckoning  call'd, 

A  reckoning  then  called  he  ; 
And  he  paid  a  crown,  and  it  went  roun1 ; 

It  was  all  for  the  gude  wine  and  free. 

32 


GR/EME  AND  BEWICK 

And  he  has  to  the  stable  gane, 

Where  there  stude  thirty  steeds  and  three : 
He's  ta'en  his  ain  horse  amang  them  a1, 

And  liame  he  rade  sae  manfullie. 

"  Welcome,  my  auld  father  !  "  said  Christie  Graeme, 
"  But  where  sae  lang  frae  hame  were  ye  ?  " — 

"  It's  I  hae  been  at  Carlisle  town, 
And  a  baffled  man  by  thee. 

"  I  hae  been  at  Carlisle  town, 

Where  Sir  Robert  Bewick  he  met  me ; 

He  says  ye're  a  lad,  and  ye  are  but  bad, 
And  billie  to  his  son  ye  canna  be. 

"  I  sent  ye  to  the  schools,  and  ye  wadna  learn ; 

I  bought  ye  books,  and  ye  wadna  read ; 
Therefore  my  blessing  ye  shall  never  earn, 

Till  I  see  with  Bewick  thou  save  thy  head."11 — 

"  Now,  God  forbid,  my  auld  father, 

That  ever  sic  a  thing  suld  be ! 
Billie  Bewick  was  my  master,  and  I  was  his  scholar, 

And  aye  sae  weel  as  he  learned  me." — 

"  0  hald  thy  tongue,  thou  limmer  loon, 

And  of  thv  talking  let  me  be  ! 
If  thou  does  na  end  me  this  quarrel  soon, 

There  is  my  glove,  Til  fight  wi1  thee.1-' — 

Then  Christie  Graeme  he  stooped  low 

Unto  the  ground,  you  shall  understand  ; — 
c  33 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

"  O  father,  put  on  your  glove  again, 

The  wind  has  blown  it  from  your  hand?'11 — 

"  What's  that  thou  says,  thou  limmer  loon  ? 

How  dares  thou  stand  to  speak  to  me? 
If  thou  do  not  end  tins  quarrel  soon, 

There's  my  light  hand,  thou  shalt  fight  with 


me.  - 


Then  Christie  Graeme's  to  his  chamber  gane, 
To  consider  weel  what  then  should  be ; 

Whether  he  should  fight  with  his  auld  father, 
Or  with  his  billie  Bewick,  he. 

"  If  I  suld  kill  my  billie  dear, 
God's  blessing  I  shall  never  win  ; 

But  if  I  strike  at  my  auld  father, 
I  think  'twald  be  a  mortal  sin. 

"  But  if  I  kill  my  billie  dear, 

It  is  God's  will,  so  let  it  be  ; 
But  I  make  a  vow,  ere  I  gang  frae  hame, 

That  I  shall  be  the  next  man's  die." — 

Then  he's  put  on's  back  a  gude  auld  jack, 

And  on  his  head  a  cap  of  steel, 
And  sword  and  buckler  by  his  side ; 

O  gin  he  did  not  become  them  weel ! 

We'll  leave  off  talking  of  Christie  Graeme, 
And  talk  of  him  again  belive  ; 1 

1  Belive — by  and  by. 

34 


GR/EME  AND  BEWICK 


And  we  will  talk  of  bonny  Bewick, 

Where  he  was  teaching  his  scholars  five 

When  he  had  taught  them  well  to  fence, 
And  handle  swords  without  any  doubt, 

He  took  his  sword  under  his  arm, 

And  he  walk'd  his  father's  close  about. 


He  looked  atween  him  and  the  sun, 
And  a'  to  see  what  there  might  be, 

Till  he  spied  a  man  in  armour  bright, 
Was  riding  that  way  most  hastilie. 


j& 


"  0  wha  is  yon,  that  came  this  way. 

Sae  hastilie  that  hither  came  ? 
I  think  it  be  my  brother  dear ! 

I  think  it  be  young  Christie  Graeme. — 

"  Ye're  welcome  here,  my  billie  dear, 
And  thrice  ye're  welcome  unto  me  !  " — 

"  But  Fni  wae  to  say,  I've  seen  the  day 
When  I  am  come  to  fight  wi'  thee. 

"  My  father's  gane  to  Carlisle  town, 
WT  your  father  Bewick  there  met  he  : 

He  says  I'm  a  lad,  and  I  am  but  bad, 
And  a  baffled  man  I  trow  I  be. 

"  He  sent  me  to  schools,  and  I  wadna  learn  ; 

He  sae  me  books,  and  I  wadna  read  ; 
Sae  my  father's  blessing  I'll  never  earn, 

Till  he  see  how  my  arm  can  guard  my  head. 

35 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

"0  God  forbid,  niv  billie  dear, 

Thai  ever  such  a  thing  sold  be  ! 
We'll  take  three  men  on  either  side. 

And  sec  if  we  can  our  fathers  agree." — 

"O  hald  thy  tongue,  now,  billie  Bewick, 

And  of  thy  talking  let  me  be  ! 
But  if  thouYt  a  man,  as  I'm  sure  thou  art, 

Come  o'er  the  dyke,  and  fight  wi1  me." — 

"  But  I  hae  nae  harness,  billie,  on  my  back. 

As  weel  I  see  there  is  on  thine.'1 — 
k>  But  as  little  harness  as  is  on  thy  back, 

As  little,  billie,  shall  be  on  mine.11 — 

Then  he's  thrown  aft'  his  coat  of  mail, 

His  cap  of  steel  away  flung  he  ; 
He  stuck  his  spear  into  the  ground, 

And  he  tied  his  horse  unto  a  tree. 

Then  Bewick  has  thrown  aff  his  cloak, 
And's  psalter- book  frae's  hand  flung  he  ; 

He  laid  his  hand  upon  the  dyke, 
And  ower  he  lap  most  manfullie. 

O  they  hae  fought  for  twae  lang  hours  ; 

When  twae  long  hours  were  come  and  gane, 
The  sweat  drappYl  fast  frae  aff  them  baith, 

But  a  drap  of  blude  could  not  be  seen. 

36 


GR^ME  AND  BEWICK 

Till  Gramme  gae  Bewick  ane  ackward  x  stroke, 
Ane  ackward  stroke  strucken  sickerlie ; 

He  has  hit  him  under  the  left  breast, 

And  dead-wounded  to  the  ground  fell  he. 

"  Rise  up,  rise  up,  now,  billie  dear  ! 

Arise  and  speak  three  words  to  me  ! — 
Whether  thou's  gotten  thy  deadly  wound, 

Or   if  God    and    good    leeching    may    succour 
thee  ? "— 

"  0  horse,  0  horse,  now,  billie  Graeme, 
And  get  thee  far  from  hence  with  speed  ; 

And  get  thee  out  of  this  country, 

That    none    may    know    who    has    done    the 
deed."— 

"01  have  slain  thee,  billie  Bewick, 

If  this  be  true  thou  tellest  to  me  ; 
But  I  made  a  vow,  ere  I  came  frae  hame, 

That  aye  the  next  man  I  wad  be."" 

He  has  pitched  his  sword  in  a  moodie-hill,2 
And  he  has  leap'd  twenty  lang  feet  and  three, 

And  on  his  ain  sword's  point  he  lap. 
And  dead  upon  the  ground  fell  he. 

"Twas  then  came  up  Sir  Robert  Bewick, 

And  his  brave  son  alive  saw  he  ; 
"  Rise  up,  rise  up,  my  son,"  he  said, 

"  For  I  think  ye  hae  gotten  the  victorie." — 

1  Ackward — backward.  -  Moodie-hill — mole-hill. 

37 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

"  O  halt!  your  tongue,  inv  father  dear  ! 

Of  your  prideful  talking  let  me  be  ! 
Ye  might  hae  drunken  your  wine  in  peace, 

And  let  me  and  my  billie  be. 

"Gae  dig  a  grave,  baith  wide  and  deep, 
And  a  grave  to  hald  baith  him  and  me ; 

But  lay  Christie  Graeme  on  the  sunny  side, 
For  I'm  sure  he  wan  the  victories — 

"  Alaek  !  a  wae  ! ,1  auld  Bewick  cried, 
"  Alack  !  was  I  not  much  to  blame  ? 

Fin  sure  I've  lost  the  liveliest  lad 

That  e'er  was  born  unto  my  name." — 

"  Alack  !  a  wae  ! 11  quo1  gude  Lord  Graeme — 
"  I'm  sure  I  hae  lost  the  deeper  lack  ! 

I  durst  hae  ridden  the  Border  through, 
Had  Christie  Graeme  been  at  my  back. 

"  Had  I  been  led  through  Liddesdale, 
And  thirty  horsemen  guarding  me, 

And  Christie  Graeme  been  at  my  back, 
Sae  soon  as  he  had  set  me  free  ! 

"  I've  lost  my  hopes,  Fve  lost  my  joy, 
I've  lost  the  key  but  and  the  lock  ; 

I  durst  hae  ridden  the  world  round, 

Had  Christie  Graeme  been  at  my  back." 


38 


THE  DOUGLAS  TRAGEDY 

"  Rise  up,  rise  up,  now,  Lord  Douglas,"  she  says, 
"  And  put  on  your  armour  so  bright ; 

Let  it  never  be  said  that  a  daughter  of  thine 
Was  married  to  a  lord  under  night. 

"  Rise  up,  rise  up,  my  seven  bold  sons, 
And  put  on  your  armour  so  bright, 

And  take  better  care  of  your  youngest  sister, 
For  vour  eldest's  awa1  the  last  night." — 


He's  mounted  her  on  a  milk-white  steed, 

And  himself  on  a  dapple  grey, 
With  a  bugelet  horn  hung  down  by  his  side, 

And  lightly  they  rode  away. 

Lord  William  lookit  o'er  his  left  shoulder, 

To  see  what  he  could  see, 
And  there  he  spy'd  her  seven  brethren  bold, 

Come  riding  o'er  the  lee. 

"Light  down,  light  down,  Lady  Marg'ret,"  he  said, 
"  And  hold  my  steed  in  your  hand, 

Until  that  against  your  seven  brethren  bold, 
And  your  father,  I  make  a  stand." — 

39 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

She  held  his  steed  in  her  milk-white  hand, 

And  never  shed  one  tear, 
Until  that  she  saw  her  seven  brethren  fa', 

And  her  father  hard  fighting,  who  loved  her  so 
dear. 

"  O  hold  your  hand,  Lord  William  ! ,1  she  said, 
"  For  your  strokes  they  are  wondrous  sair  ; 

True  lovers  I  can  get  many  a  ane, 
But  a  father  I  can  never  <;et  mair.-" — 

O,  she's  ta'en  out  her  handkerchief, 

It  was  0'  the  holland  sac  fine, 
And  aye  she  dighted  1  her  father's  Jbloody  wounds, 

That  were  redder  than  the  wine. 


"  O  chuse,  O  chuse,  Lady  Marg'ret,v  he  said. 

"  O  whether  will  ye  gang  or  bide  ?  M — 
"  Til  gang,  Til  gang,  Lord  William,"  she  said, 

"  For  vou  have  left  me  no  other  ^uide.11 — 


&v 


He's  lifted  her  on  a  milk-white  steed, 

And  himself  on  a  dapple  grey, 
With  a  bugelet  horn  hung  down  by  his  side, 

And  slowly  they  baith  rade  awav. 

O  they  rade  on,  and  on  they  rade. 

And  a'  by  the  light  of  the  moon, 
Until  they  came  to  yon  wan  water, 
And  there  they  lighted  down. 
1  Dighted — wiped. 
40 


THE  DOUGLAS  TRAGEDY 

They  lighted  down  to  tak  a  drink 

Of  the  spring  that  ran  sae  clear  ; 
And  down  the  stream  ran  his  gude  heart's  blood, 

And  sair  she  "gan  to  fear. 

"  Hold  up,  hold  up,  Lord  William,"  she  says, 
"  For  I  fear  that  you  are  slain  !  " — 

"  'Tis    naething   but    the    shadow  of  my  scarlet 
cloak 
That  shines  in  the  water  sae  plain." — 

O  they  rade  on,  and  on  they  rade, 

And  a1  by  the  light  of  the  moon, 
Until  they  cam  to  his  mother's  ha1  door, 

And  there  they  lighted  down. 

"  Get  up,  get  up,  lady  mother,"  he  says, 

"  Get  up,  and  let  me  in  ! — 
Get  up,  get  up,  lady  mother,"  he  says, 

"  For  this  night  my  fair  lady  I've  win. 

"  O  mak  my  bed,  lady  mother,"  he  says, 

"  ()  mak  it  braid  and  deep  ! 
And  lay  Lady  Marg'ret  close  at  my  back, 

And  the  sounder  I  will  sleep." — 

Lord  William  was  dead  king  ere  midnight, 

Lady  MargYet  lang  ere  day — 
And  all  true  lovers  that  go  thegither, 

May  they  have  mair  luck  than  they  ! 

41 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

Lord  William  was  buried  in  St  Marie's  kirk, 

Lady  Marg'ret  in  Marie's  quire; 
Out  o1  the  lady's  grave  grew  a  bonny  red  rose, 

And  out  o1  the  knight's  a  brier. 

And  they  twa  met,  and  they  twa  plat, 

And  fain  they  wad  be  near ; 
And  a'  the  warld  might  ken  right  wcel, 

They  were  twa  lovers  dear. 

But  bye  and  rade  the  Black  Douglas, 

And  wow  but  he  was  rough  ! 
For  he  pull'd  up  the  bonny  brier, 

And  rlang'd  in  St  Mary's  Loch. 


42 


THE  LAMENT  OF  THE  BORDER 
WIDOW 

My  love  he  built  me  a  bonny  bower, 
And  clad  it  a  wi'  lilye  flour, 
A  brawer  bower  ye  ne'er  did  see 
Than  my  true  love  he  built  for  me. 

There  came  a  man,  by  middle  day, 
He  spied  his  sport,  and  went  away  ; 
And  brought  the  King  that  very  night, 
Who  brake  my  bower,  and  slew  my  knight. 

He  slew  my  knight,  to  me  sae  dear ; 
He  slew  my  knight,  and  poind  his  gear ; 
My  servants  all  for  life  did  flee, 
And  left  me  in  extremitie. 

I  sew\l  his  sheet,  making  my  mane ; 
I  watch'd  the  corpse,  myself  alane  ; 
I  watch'd  his  body,  night  and  day  ; 
No  living  creature  came  that  way. 

I  took  his  body  on  my  back, 
And  whiles  I  gaed,  and  whiles  I  sat ; 
I  digg'd  a  grave,  and  laid  him  in, 
And  happ  d  him  with  the  sod  sae  green. 

43 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

Hut  think  na  ye  my  heart  was  sair, 

When  I  laid  the  moul  on  his  yellow  hair  ; 
()  think  na  ye  my  heart  was  wae, 
When  I  turn'd  about,  awa1  to  gae  ? 

Nae  living  man  I'll  love  again. 
Since  that  my  lovely  knight  is  slain ; 
WT  ae  lock  of  his  yellow  hair 
Til  chain  my  heart  for  evermair. 


44 


FAIR  HELEN 

I  wish  I  were  where  Helen  lies, 
Night  and  day  on  me  she  cries  ; 
0  that  I  were  where  Helen  lies, 
On  fair  Kirconnell  Lee ! 

Curst  be  the  heart  that  thought  the  thought. 
And  curst  the  hand  that  fired  the  shot, 
When  in  my  arms  burd  Helen  dropt, 
And  died  to  succour  me  ! 

0  think  na  ye  my  heart  was  sair, 

When  my  love  dropt  down  and  spak  nae  mair ! 
There  did  she  swoon  wi1  meikle  care, 
On  fair  Kirconnell  Lee. 

As  I  went  down  the  water-side, 
None  but  my  foe  to  be  my  guide, 
None  but  my  foe  to  be  my  guide, 
On  fair  Kirconnell  Lee  ; 

1  lighted  down  my  sword  to  draw, 
I  hacked  him  in  pieces  sma1, 

I  hacked  him  in  pieces  sma1, 
For  her  sake  that  died  for  me. 

45 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

O  Helen  fair,  beyond  compare  ! 
I'll  make  a  garland  of  thy  hair, 
Shall  hind  my  heart  for  evermair. 
Until  the  day  I  die. 

O  that  I  were  where  Helen  lies! 
Night  and  day  on  me  she  cries ; 
Out  of  my  bed  she  bids  me  rise, 
Says,  "  Haste  and  come  to  me  !  " — 

0  Helen  fair  !  O  Helen  chaste  ! 
If  I  were  with  thee  I  were  blest, 
Where  thon  lies  low,  and  takes  thy  rest, 

On  fair  Kirconnell  Lee. 

1  wish  my  grave  were  growing  green, 
A  winding-sheet  drawn  ower  my  een, 
And  I  in  Helen's  arms  lying, 

On  fair  Kirconnell  Lee. 

I  wish  I  were  where  Helen  lies ! 
Night  and  day  on  me  she  cries ; 
And  I  am  weary  of  the  skies 
For  her  sake  that  died  for  me. 


46 


FAUSE  FOODRAGE 

Kixg  Easter  has  courted  her  for  her  lands, 

Kins  Wester  for  her  fee, 
Kino;  Honour  for  her  comely  face, 

And  for  her  fair  bodie. 


They  had  not  been  four  months  married 

As  I  have  heard  them  tell, 
Until  the  nobles  of  the  land 

Against  them  did  rebel. 

And  they  cast  kevils x  them  amang, 

And  kevils  them  between ; 
And  they  cast  kevils  them  amang, 

Wha  suld  gae  kill  the  King. 

0,  some  said  yea,  and  some  said  nay, 

Their  words  did  not  agree ; 
Till  up  and  got  him,  Fause  Foodrage, 

And  swore  it  suld  be  he. 

When  bells  were  rung,  and  mass  was  sung, 
And  sC  men  bound  to  bed, 

1  Kevils — lots. 

47 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

King  Honour  and  his  gay  ladye 

In  a  high  chamber  were  laid. 

Then  up  and  raise  him,  Fause  Foodrage, 

When  a1  were  fast  asleep, 
And  slew  the  porter  in  his  lodge, 
That  watch  and  ward  did  keep. 

O  four-and-twenty  silver  keys 

Hang  hie  upon  a  pin  ; 
And  aye,  as  ae  door  he  did  unlock, 
He  has  fasten 'd  it  him  behind. 

Then  up  and  raise  him,  King  Honour, 
Says — "  "What  means  a1  this  din  ? 

Or  what's  the  matter,  Fause  Foodrage, 
Or  wha  has  loot  you  in  ?  " — 

"  O  ye  my  errand  weel  sail  learn 

Before  that  I  depart." — 
Then  drew  a  knife,  baith  lang  and  sharp, 

And  pierced  him  to  the  heart. 

Then  up  and  got  the  Queen  hersell, 
And  fell  low  down  on  her  knee, 

"  O  spare  my  life,  now,  Fause  Foodrage  ! 
For  I  never  injured  thee. 

"  O  spare  my  life,  now,  Fause  Foodrage  ! 

Until  I  lighter  be  ! 
And  see  gin  it  be  lad  or  lass, 

King  Honour  has  left  me  wiV — 
4S 


ft. 


.'  -  =t// 


IW*^ 


O  they  rade  on,  and  on  they  rade, 
And  a'  by  the  light  of  the  moon. — 


Sec  p.  41. 


FAUSE  FOODRAGE 

"  O  gin  it  be  a  lass,"  he  says, 

"  Weel  nursed  it  sail  be ; 
But  gin  it  be  a  lad  bairn, 

He  sail  be  hanged  hie. 

"  I  winna  spare  for  his  tender  age, 

Nor  yet  for  his  hie  hie  kin  ; 
But  soon  as  e'er  he  born  is 

He  sail  mount  the  gallows  pin." — 

O  four-and-twenty  valiant  knights 
Were  set  the  Queen  to  guard ; 

And  four  stood  aye  at  her  bour  door, 
To  keep  both  watch  and  ward. 

But  when  the  time  drew  near  an  end 

That  she  suld  lighter  be, 
She  cast  about  to  find  a  wile 

To  set  her  body  free. 

O  she  has  birled  these  merry  young  men 
With  the  ale  but  and  the  wine, 

Until  they  were  a1  deadly  drunk 
As  any  wild-wood  swine. 

"  O  narrow,  narrow  is  this  window, 
And  big,  big  am  I  grown  !  " — 

Yet  through  the  might  of  Our  Ladye, 
Out  at  it  she  is  o-one. 

She  wander'd  up,  she  wandercl  down, 
She  wander 'd  out  and  in ; 
D  49 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

And,  at  last,  into  the  very  swine's  .sty the, 
The  Queen  brought  forth  a  son. 

Then  they  cast  kevils  them  amang, 
Which  sold  gae  seek  the  Queen  ; 

And  the  kevil  fell  upon  Wise  William, 
And  he  sent  his  wife  for  him. 

0  when  she  saw  Wise  William's  wife, 

The  Queen  fell  on  her  knee  : 
"  Win  up,  win  up,  madam  !  "  she  says  : 

"  What  needs  this  courtesie  ?  " 

"  0  out  o1  this  I  winna  rise, 

Till  a  boon  ye  grant  to  me  ; 
To  change  your  lass  for  this  lad  bairn, 

Kins  Honour  left  me  wi\ 


'in 


"  And  ye  maun  learn  my  gay  goss-hawk 

Right  weel  to  breast  a  steed  ; 
And  I  sail  learn  your  turtle-dow * 

As  weel  to  write  and  read. 

"  And  ye  maun  learn  my  gay  goss-hawk 
To  wield  both  bow  and  brand ; 

And  I  sail  learn  your  turtle-dow 
To  lay  gowd2  wi'  her  hand. 

"  At  kirk  and  market  when  we  meet, 
We'll  dare  make  nac  avowe, 
1  Dow — dove.  "  Lay  gowd — to  embroider  in  gold. 

50 


FAUSE  FOODRAGE 

But — *  Dame,  how  does  my  gay  goss-hawk  ?  ' 
'  Madame,  how  does  my  dow  ?  1 

When  days  were  gane,  and  years  came  on, 
Wise  William  he  thought  lang  ; 

And  he  has  ta"en  King  Honour's  son 
A -hunting  for  to  gang. 

It  sae  fell  out,  at  this  hunting, 

Upon  a  simmer's  day, 
That  they  came  by  a  fair  castell, 

Stood  on  a  sunny  brae. 

"  O  dinna  ye  see  that  bonny  castell, 

Wr  halls  and  towers  sae  fair  ? 
Gin  ilka  man  had  back  his  ain, 

Of  it  you  suld  be  heir.'11 — 

"  How  I  suld  be  heir  of  that  castell, 

In  sooth,  I  canna  see  ; 
For  it  belangs  to  Fause  Foodrage, 

And  he  is  na  kin  to  me.11 — 

"  0  gin  ye  suld  kill  him,  Fause  Foodrage, 
You  would  do  but  what  was  right ; 

For  I  wot  he  kill'd  your  father  dear, 
Or  ever  ve  saw  the  light. 


'(V 


"  And  gin  ye  suld  kill  him,  Fause  Foodrage, 
There  is  no  man  durst  you  blame  ; 

For  he  keeps  your  mother  a  prisoner, 
And  she  darna  take  ye  hame.1"' — 

51 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

The  boy  stared  wild  like  a  grey  goss-hawk  ; 

Says — "  What   may  a1  this  mean  ? "" 
"  My  boy,  ye  are  King  Honour's  son. 
And  your  mother's  our  lawful  Queen." — 

"  ()  gin  I  bo  King  Honour's  son, 

By  Our  Ladye  I  swear, 
This  night  I  will  that  traitor  slay, 

And  relieve  my  mother  dear  ! ,'' — 

He  has  set  his  bent  bow  to  his  breast, 

And  leaped  the  castell  wa1 ; 
And  soon  he  has  seized  on  Fause  Foodrage. 

Wha  loud  for  help  'gan  ca\ 

"  O  haud  your  tongue,  now,  Fause  Foodrage, 

Frae  me  ye  shanna  flee  M ; — 
Syne  pierced  him  through  the  fause,  fause  heart. 

And  set  his  mother  free. 

And  he  has  awarded  Wise  William 

Wi1  the  best  half  of  his  land  ; 
And  sae  has  he  the  turtle-dow 

Wi1  the  truth  o1  his  right  hand. 


52 


THE  GAY  GOSS-HAWK 

"  O  waly,  waly,  my  gay  goss-hawk, 
Gin  your  feathering  be  sheen  !  " — 

"  And  waly,  waly,  my  master  dear, 
Gin  ye  look  pale  and  lean  ! 

"  O  have  ye  tint,  at  tournament, 
Your  sword,  or  yet  your  spear  ? 

Or  mourn  ye  for  the  southern  lass, 
Whom  ye  may  not  win  near  ?  " — 

"  I  have  not  tint,  at  tournament, 
My  sword,  nor  yet  my  spear  ; 

But  sair  I  mourn  for  my  true  love, 
Wi1  mony  a  bitter  tear. 

"  But  weel's  me  on  ye,  my  gay  goss-hawk, 
Ye  can  baith  speak  and  flee ; 

Ye  sail  carry  a  letter  to  my  love, 
Brino;  an  answer  back  to  me." — 


*& 


"  But  how  sail  I  your  true  love  find, 
Or  how  suld  I  her  know  ? 

I  bear  a  tongue  ne'er  wi1  her  spake, 
An  eye  that  ne'er  her  saw." — 

53 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

"  ()  uicl  -all  ye  my  true  love  ken. 

Sae  sune  as  ye  her  see ; 
For,  of  a'  the  flowers  of  fail-  England, 

The  fairest  flower  is  she. 


"The  red,  that's  on  my  true  love's  cheek, 
Is  like  blood-drops  on  the  snaw  ; 

The  white,  that  is  on  her  breast  bare, 
Like  the  down  o1  the  white  sea-maw. 

"  And  even  at  my  love's  bour-door 
There  grows  a  flowering  birk  ; 

And  ye  maun  sit  and  sing  thereon 
As  she  gangs  to  the  kirk. 

"  And  four-and-twenty  fair  ladyes 

Will  to  the  mass  repair  ; 
But  weel  may  ye  my  ladye  ken, 

The  fairest  ladye  there." 


Lord  William  has  written  a  love-letter 
Put  it  under  his  pinion  grey  ; 

And  he  is  awa  to  southern  land 
As  fast  as  wings  can  gae. 

And  even  at  the  ladye's  bour 
There  crew  a  flowering  birk  ; 

And  he  sat  down  and  sung  thereon 
As  she  o-aed  to  the  kirk. 

54 


THE  GAY  GOSS-HAWK 

And  weel  he  kent  that  lad}e  fair 

Among  her  maidens  free  ; 
For  the  flower,  that  springs  in  May  morning, 

Was  not  sae  sweet  as  she. 

He  lighted  at  the  ladye's  yate, 

And  sat  him  on  a  pin  ; 
And  sang  fu1  sweet  the  notes  o1  love. 

Till  a1  was  cosh  l  within. 

And  first  he  sang  a  low  low  note, 

And  syne  he  sang  a  clear ; 
And  aye  the  o'erword  o1  the  sang 

Was — "  Your  love  can  no  win  here.11 — 

"  Feast  on,  feast  on,  my  maidens  a1, 

The  wine  flows  you  amang, 
While  I  gang  to  my  shot-window,2 

And  hear  yon  bonnie  bird's  sang. 

"  Sing  on,  sing  on,  my  bonny  bird, 

The  sang  ye  sung  yestreen  ; 
For  weel  I  ken,  by  your  sweet  singing, 

Ye  are  frae  my  true  love  sen.11 

O  first  he  sang  a  merry  sang, 

And  syne  he  sang  a  grave  ; 
And  syne  he  picked  his  feathers  grey. 

To  her  the  letter  gave. 
1  Cosh — quiet.  "  Shot-window — a  bow-window. 

55 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

■•  Have  there  a  letter  from  Lord  William  ; 

He  says  he's  sent  ye  three; 
He  carina  wait  your  love  langer, 

lint  for  your  sake  hell  die." — 

"  Gae  bid  him  bake  his  bridal  bread, 

And  brew  his  bridal  ale  ; 
And  I  shall  meet  him  at  Mary's  kirk, 

Lang,  lang  ere  it  be  stale." 

The  ladye's  gane  to  her  chamber, 

And  a  moanfu'  woman  was  she  ; 
As  gin  she  had  ta'cn  a  sudden  brash,1 

And  were  about  to  die. 

"  A  boon,  a  boon,  my  father  deir, 

A  boon  I  beg  of  thee  ! " — 
"  Ask  not  that  paughty  Scottish  lord, 

For  him  you  ne'er  shall  see. 

"  But,  for  your  honest  asking  else, 

Weel  granted  it  shall  be." — 
"  Then,  gin  I  die  in  southern  land, 

In  Scotland  gar  bury  me. 

"  And  the  first  kirk  that  ye  come  to, 

Ye's  gar  the  mass  be  sung ; 
And  the  next  kirk  that  ye  come  to, 

Ye's  gar  the  bells  be  rung. 

1  Brash — sickness. 
56 


THE  GAY  GOSS-HAWK 

"  And  when  ye  come  to  St.  Mary's  kirk, 

Ye's  tarry  there  till  night." 
And  so  her  father  pledg'd  his  word, 

And  so  his  promise  plight. 

She  has  ta'en  her  to  her  bigly  bour 

As  fast  as  she  could  fare ; 
And  she  has  drank  a  sleepy  draught 

That  she  had  mix'd  wi1  care. 

And  pale,  pale  grew  her  rosy  cheek, 
That  was  sae  bright  of  blee,1 

And  she  seem'd  to  be  as  surely  dead 
As  any  one  could  be. 

Then  spake  her  cruel  step-minnie, 

44  Tak  ye  the  burning  lead, 
And  drap  a  drap  on  her  bosome, 

To  try  if  she  be  dead." 

They  took  a  drap  o'  boiling  lead, 
They  drapp'd  it  on  her  breast ; 

"  Alas  !  alas  !  "  her  father  cried, 
"  She's  dead  without  the  priest." 

She  neither  chatter'd  with  her  teeth, 

Nor  shiver'd  with  her  chin  ; 
"  Alas  !    alas  !  "    her  father  cried, 

"  There  is  nae  breath  within." 

3  Bice — bloom. 

57 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

Then  up  arose  her  seven  brethren, 

And  hew'd  to  her  a  bier  ; 
They  hew'd  it  frae  the  solid  aik, 

Laid  it  o'er  wi1  silver  clear. 

Then  up  and  gat  her  seven  sisters, 

And  sewed  to  her  a  kell  ;* 
And  every  steek  that  they  put  in 

Sewed  to  a  siller  bell. 

The  first  Scots  kirk  that  they  cam  to, 

They  garr'd  the  bells  be  rung ; 
The  next  Seots  kirk  that  they  cam  to, 

They  garr'd  the  mass  be  sung. 

But  when  they  cam  to  St.  Mary's  kirk, 
There  stude  spearmen  all  in  a  raw  ; 

And  up  and  started  Lord  William, 
The  chieftane  amang  them  a\ 

"Set  down,  set  down  the  bier,"  he  said, 

"  Let  me  look  her  upon ,1 : 
But  as  soon  as  Lord  William  touch'd  her  hand, 

Her  colour  began  to  come. 

She  brightened  like  the  lily  flower, 

Till  her  pale  colour  was  gone ; 
With  rosy  cheek,  and  ruby  lip, 

She  smiled  her  love  upon. 

1  Kell—  shroud. 
58 


THE  GAY  GOSS-HAWK 

"  A  morsel  of  your  bread,  my  lord, 
And  one  glass  of  your  wine  ; 

For  I  hae  fasted  these  three  lang  days, 
All  for  your  sake  and  mine." 


59 


THE  SILLY  RLIND  HARPER 

O  heaud  ye  na  o'  the  silly  blind  Harper, 
How  lono;  he  lived  in  Lochmaben  town  ? 

And  how  he  wad  gang  to  fair  England, 

To  steal  the  Lord  Warden's  Wanton  Brown  ? 

But  first  he  gaed  to  his  gude-wyfe, 

Wi'  a1  the  haste  that  he  could  thole — 

"  This  wark,"  quo1  he,  "  will  ne'er  gae  weel 
Without  a  mare  that  has  a  foal.11 — 

Quo1  she,  "  Thou  hast  a  gude  grey  mare, 
That  can  baith  lance  o'er  laigh  and  hie ; 

Sae  set  thee  on  the  grey  mare's  back, 
And  leave  the  foal  at  hame  wi1  me." — 

So  he  is  up  to  England  gane, 

And  even  as  fast  as  he  may  drie ; 
And  when  he  cam  to  Carlisle  gate, 

O  whae  was  there  but  the  Warden  hie  ? 

"  Come  into  my  hall,  thou  silly  blind  Harper, 
And  of  thy  harping  let  me  hear  ! 11 — 

"  O,  by  my  sooth,11  quo1  the  silly  blind  Harper, 
"  I  wad  rather  hae  stabling  for  my  mare." — 

60 


THE  SILLY  BLIND  HARPER 

The  Warden  look'd  ower  his  left  shoulder. 

And  said  unto  his  stable  groom — 
"  Gae  take  the  silly  blind  Harper's  mare, 

And  tie  her  beside  my  Wanton  Brown." 

Then  aye  he  harped,  and  aye  he  carped,1 
Till  a'  the  lordlings  footed  the  floor ; 

But  an  the  music  was  sae  sweet, 

The  groom  had  nae  mind  0'  the  stable  door. 

And  ave  he  harped,  and  aye  he  carped, 
Till  a1  the  nobles  were  fast  asleep ; 

Then  quickly  he  took  aft'  his  shoon, 
And  saftly  down  the  stair  did  creep. 

Svne  to  the  stable  door  lie  hied, 

Wi1  tread  as  light  as  light  could  be ; 

And  when  he  open'd  and  gaed  in, 

There  he  fand  thirty  steeds  and  three. 

He  took  a  cowt  halter 2  frae  his  hose, 
And  o1  his  purpose  he  didna  fail ; 

He  slipt  it  ower  the  Wanton's  nose, 
And  tied  it  to  his  grey  mare's  tail. 

He  turnYl  them  loose  at  the  castle  gate, 
Ower  muir  and  moss  and  ilka  dale  ; 

And  she  ne'er  let  the  Wanton  bait, 

But  kept  him  a-galloping  hame  to  her  foal. 

1  Sung.  "  Cowt  halter — colt's  halter. 

6l 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

The  mart'  she  was  right  swift  o1  foot, 

She  didna  fail  to  find  the  way  ; 
For  she  was  at  Lochmaben  <rate 

A  lang  three  hours  before  the  day. 

When  she  came  to  the  Harper's  door, 

There  she  gave  mony  a  nicker  and  sneer.1 — 

"  Rise  up,"  quo'  the  wife,  "  thou  lazy  lass  ; 
Let  in  thv  master  and  his  mare." — 

Then  up  she  rose,  put  on  her  clothes, 
And  keekit  through  at  the  lock-hole — 

"  O  !  by  my  sooth,"  then  cried  the  lass, 

"  Our  mare  has  gotten  a  braw  brown  foal !  " — 

"  Come  haud  thy  tongue,  thou  silly  wench ! 

The  morn's  but  glancing  in  your  ee." — 
"  I'll  wad  my  hail  fee  2  against  a  groat, 

He's  bigger  than  e'er  our  foal  will  be." — 

Now  all  this  while  in  merry  Carlisle 
The  Harper  harped  to  hie  and  law  ; 

And  the  fiend  dought  they  do  3  but  listen  him  to, 
Until  that  the  day  began  to  daw. 

But  on  the  morn  at  fair  daylight, 
When  they  had  ended  a'  their  cheer, 

Behold  the  Wanton  Brown  was  gane, 
And  eke  the  poor  blind  Harper's  mare ! 

1  Nicker  and  sneer — neigh  and  snort. 
a  Wad  my  hail  fee — bet  my  whole  wages. 
3  Fiend  dought  they  do — nothing  could  they  do. 
62 


THE  SILLY  BLIND  HARPER 

"  Allace  !  allace  ! "  quo1  the  cunning  auld  Harper, 
"  And  ever  allace  that  I  cam  here  ; 

In  Scotland  I  hae  lost  a  braw  cowt  foal, 

In  England  they've  stown  my  gude  grey  mare!  "— 


"  Come !  cease  thy  allacing,  thou  silly  blind  Harper, 
And  again  of  thy  harping  let  us  hear ; 

And  weel  payd  sail  thy  cowt-foal  be, 

And  thou  sail  have  a  far  better  mare.''1 — 

Then  aye  he  harped,  and  aye  he  carped ; 

Sac  sweet  were  the  harpings  he  let  them  hear ! 
He  was  paid  for  the  foal  he  had  never  lost, 

And  three  times  ower  for  the  gude  Grey  Mare. 


63 


KINMONT  WILLIE 

O  have  ye  na  heard  o1  the  fause  Sakelde  ? 

O  have  ye  na  heard  o'  the  keen  Lord  Scroope  ? 
How  they  hae  ta'en  bauld  Kinraont  Willie, 

On  Haribee  to  hang  him  up  ? l 

Had  Willie  had  but  twenty  men, 

But  twenty  men  as  stout  as  he, 
Pause  Sakelde  had  never  the  Kinmont  ta'en, 

Wi1  eight  score  in  his  cumpanie. 

They  band  his  legs  beneath  the  steed, 
They  tied  his  hands  behind  his  back  ; 

They  guarded  him,  fivesome  on  each  side, 

And  they  brought  him  ower  the  Liddel-rack. 

They  led  him  thro1  the  Liddel-rack, 

And  also  thro'  the  Carlisle  sands ; 
They  brought  him  to  Carlisle  castell, 

To  be  at  my  Lord  Scroope's  commands. 

"  My  hands  are  tied,  but  my  tongue  is  free, 

And  whae  will  dare  this  deed  avow  ? 
Or  answer  by  the  Border  law  ? 

Or  answer  to  the  bauld  Buccleuch  ?  " — 
1  Haribee  is  the  place  of  execution  at  Carlisle. 
64 


"Now  sound  out,   trumpets!"  quo'   Buccleugh  ; 
"  Let's  waken  Lord  Scroope  right  merrilie  !  "- 

See  p.  69. 


KINMONT  WILLIE 

"  Now  haud  thy  tongue,  thou  rank  reiver ! 

There's  never  a  Scot  shall  set  thee  free : 
Before  ye  cross  my  castle  yate, 

I  trow  ye  shall  take  farewell  o1  me." 

"  Fear  na  ye  that,  my  lord,"  quo'  Willie : 

"  By  the  faith  o'  my  body,  Lord  Scroope,"  he 
said, 

"  I  never  yet  lodged  in  a  hostelrie, 

But  I  paid  my  lawing  before  I  gaed." — 

Now  word  is  gane  to  the  bauld  Keeper, 
In  Branksome  Ha'',  where  that  he  lay, 

That  Lord  Scroope  has  ta'en  the  Kinmont  Willie 
Between  the  hours  of  night  and  day. 


r> 


He  has  ta'en  the  table  wi1  his  hand, 

He  garr'd  the  red  wine  spring  on  hie — 

"  Now  Christ's  curse  on  my  head,"  he  said, 
"  But  avenged  of  Lord  Scroope  I'll  be  ! 

"  O  is  my  basnet  a  widow's  curch  ? l 

Or  my  lance  a  wand  of  the  willow-tree  ? 

Or  my  arm  a  ladye's  lilye  hand, 

That  an  English  lord  should  lightly  me ! 

"  And  have  they  ta'en  him,  Kinmont  Willie, 
Against  the  truce  of  Border  tide  ? 

And  forgotten  that  the  bauld  Buccleuch 
Is  Keeper  here  on  the  Scottish  side  ? 

1  Curch — coif. 
E  65 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

"And  have  they  e'en  ta'en  him,  Kinmont  Willie, 

Withouten  either  dread  or  fear? 
And  forgotten  that  the  bauld  Buccleueh 

Can  back  a  steed,  or  shake  a  spear  ? 

"  O  were  there  war  between  the  lands, 

As  well  I  wot  that  there  is  none, 
I  would  slight  Carlisle  castell  high, 

Though  it  were  builded  of  marble  stone. 

"  I  would  set  that  eastell  in  a  low,1 

And  sloken  it  with  English  blood ! 
There's  never  a  man  in  Cumberland, 

Should  ken  where  Carlisle  castell  stood. 

"  But  since  nae  war's  between  the  lands, 
And  there  is  peace,  and  peace  should  be, 

Til  neither  harm  English  lad  or  lass, 
And  yet  the  Kinmont  freed  shall  be  !  " 

He  has  calTd  him  forty  Marchmen  bauld, 

I  trow  they  were  of  his  ain  name, 
Except  Sir  Gilbert  Elliot,  calPd 

The  Laird  of  Stobs,  I  mean  the  same. 

He  has  calFd  him  forty  Marchmen  bauld, 
Were  kinsmen  to  the  bauld  Buccleuch ; 

With  spur  on  heel,  and  splent  on  spauld,2 
And  gleuves  of  green,  and  feathers  blue. 

1  Low — flame. 

2  Splent  on  spauld — armour  on  shoulder. 

66 


KINMONT  WILLIE 

There  were  five  and  five  before  them  a', 
VYT  hunting-horns  and  bugles  bright : 

And  five  and  five  came  wi1  Buccleuch, 
Like  warden's  men,  array'd  for  fight. 

And  five  and  five,  like  a  mason  gang, 
That  carried  the  ladders  lang  and  hie ; 

And  five  and  five,  like  broken  men ; 

And  so  they  reach'd  the  Woodhouselee. 

And  as  we  cross'd  the  Bateable  Land, 
When  to  the  English  side  we  held, 

The  first  o'  men  that  we  met  wi1, 

Whae  sould  it  be  but  fause  Sakelde  ? 

"  Where  be  ye  gaun,  ye  hunters  keen  ?  " 
Quo1  fause  Sakelde  ;  "  come  tell  to  me  ! ' 

"  We  go  to  hunt  an  English  stag, 

Has  trespass'd  on  the  Scots  countrie.11 


"  Where  be  ye  gaun,  ye  marshal  men  ?  " 
Quo1  fause  Sakelde  ;  "  come  tell  me  true  !  " 

"  We  go  to  catch  a  rank  reiver, 

Has  broken  faith  wi1  the  bauld  Buccleuch. 

"  Where  are  ye  gaun,  ye  mason  lads, 
Wi'  a'  your  ladders,  lang  and  hie  ?  " — 

"  We  gang  to  herry  a  corbie's  nest, 

That  wons  not  far  frae  Woodhouselee." — 

67 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

"  Where  be  ye  gaun,  ye  broken  men  ?  " 

Quo'  fause  Sakelde ;  "  come  tell  to  me  ! " — 

Now  Dickie  of  Dryhope  led  that  band, 
And  the  nevir  a  word  of  lear 1  had  he. 

"  Why  trespass  ye  on  the  English  side  ? 

Row-footed  outlaws,  stand  !  "  quo'  he ; 
The  nevir  a  word  had  Dickie  to  say, 

Sae  he  thrust  the  lance  through  his  fause  bodie. 

Then  on  we  held  for  Carlisle  toun, 

And  at  Staneshaw-bank  the  Eden  we  cross'd ; 
The  water  was  great  and  meikle  of  spait, 

But  the  nevir  a  horse  nor  man  we  lost. 

And  when  we  reach'd  the  Staneshaw-bank 

The  wind  was  rising  loud  and  hie ; 
And  there  the  Laird  garr'd  leave  our  steeds, 

For  fear  that  they  should  stamp  and  nie. 

And  when  we  left  the  Staneshaw-bank, 

The  wind  began  full  loud  to  blaw  ; 
But  'twas  wind  and  weet,  and  fire  and  sleet, 

When  we  came  beneath  the  castle  wa\ 

We  crept  on  knees,  and  held  our  breath, 
Till  we  placed  the  ladders  against  the  wa1 ; 

And  sae  ready  was  Buccleuch  himsell 
To  mount  the  first  before  us  a'. 

1  Lear — lore. 

68 


KINMONT  WILLIE 

He  has  ta'en  the  watchman  by  the  throat, 
He  flung  him  down  upon  the  lead — 

"  Had  there  not  been  peace  between  our  lands, 
Upon  the  other  side  thou  hadst  gaed  ! — 

"  Now  sound  out,  trumpets  !  "  quo''  Buccleuch  ; 
"  Let's  waken  Lord  Scroope  right  merrilie  !  "- 
Then  loud  the  warden's  trumpet  blew — 

O  tolia  dare  meddle  zoi  me  ? 

Then  speedilie  to  wark  we  gaed, 
And  raised  the  slogan  ane  and  a1, 

And  cut  a  hole  through  a  sheet  of  lead, 
And  so  we  wan  to  the  castle  ha'. 

They  thought  King  James  and  a1  his  men 
Had  won  the  house  wi'  bow  and  spear ; 

It  was  but  twenty  Scots  and  ten, 

That  put  a  thousand  in  sic  a  stear  ! 1 

Wi1  coulters,  and  wi'  forehammers, 
We  gari-'d  the  bars  bang  merrilie, 

Until  we  came  to  the  inner  prison, 
Where  Willie  o1  Kinmont  he  did  lie. 


And  when  we  cam  to  the  lower  prison, 
Where  Willie  o1  Kinmont  he  did  lie- 

"  O  sleep  ye,  wake  ye,  Kinmont  Willie, 
Upon  the  morn  that  thou's  to  die  ?  "- 

1  Stear — stir. 
69 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

"01  sleep  saft,1  and  I  wake  aft ; 

It's  lang  since  sleeping  was  fley'd 2  frae  me  ! 
Gie  my  service  back  to  my  wife  and  bairns, 

And  a1  gude  fellows  that  speir3  for  me." — 

Then  Red  Rowan  has  hente  him  up, 

The  starkest  man  in  Teviotdale — 
"  Abide,  abide  now,  Red  Rowan, 

Till  of  my  Lord  Scroope  I  take  farewell. 

"  Farewell,  farewell,  my  gude  Lord  Scroope  ! 

My  gude  Lord  Scroope,  farewell !  "  he  cried — 
111  pay  you  for  my  lodging  maill,4 

When  first  Ave  meet  on  the  Border  side." — 


Then  shoulder  high,  with  shout  and  cry, 
We  bore  him  down  the  ladder  lang ; 

At  every  stride  Red  Rowan  made, 

I  wot  the  Kinmonfs  aims  play'd  clang 


"  O  mony  a  time,11  quo1  Kinmont  Willie, 
"  I  have  ridden  horse  baith  wild  and  wood  ; 

But  a  rougher  beast  than  Red  Rowan 
I  ween  my  legs  have  ne'er  bestrode. 

"  And  mony  a  time,1'  quo1  Kinmont  Willie, 
"  IVe  prick'd  a  horse  out  oure  the  furs ; 

But  since  the  day  I  back'd  a  steed, 
I  never  wore  sic  cumbrous  spurs  ! 11 — 

i  Saft— -light.  2  Fleyed—  frightened. 

3  Speir— inquire.  4  Maill— rent. 

70 


KINMONT  WILLIE 

We  scarce  had  won  the  Staneshaw-bank 
When  a1  the  Carlisle  bells  were  rung, 

And  a  thousand  men  on  horse  and  foot 
Cam  wi1  the  keen  Lord  Scroope  along. 

Buccleuch  has  turcTd  to  Eden  Water, 
Even  where  it  flow'd  frae  bank  to  brim, 

And  he  has  plunged  in  wi1  a1  his  band, 

And  safely  swam  them  through  the  stream. 

He  turn'd  him  on  the  other  side, 

And  at  Lord  Scroope  his  glove  flung  he — 
"  If  ye  like  na  my  visit  in  merry  England, 

In  fair  Scotland  come  visit  me  ! " 

All  sore  astonish'd  stood  Lord  Scroope, 
He  stood  as  still  as  rock  of  stane  ; 

He  scarcely  dared  to  trew  his  eyes, 

When  through  the  water  they  had  gane. 

"  He  is  either  himsell  a  devil  frae  hell, 
Or  else  his  mother  a  witch  maun  be  ; 

I  wadna  have  ridden  that  wan  water 
For  a1  the  gowd  in  Christentie.11 


71 


LORD   MAXWELL'S   GOOD-NIGHT1 

"  Adieu,  madame,  my  mother  dear, 

But  and  my  sisters  three  ! 
Adieu,  fair  Robert  of  Orchardstane  ! 

My  heart  is  wae  for  thee. 
Adieu,  the  lily  and  the  rose, 

The  primrose  fair  to  see ; 
Adieu,  my  ladye.  and  only  joy  ! 

For  I  may  not  stay  with  thee. 

"  Though  I  hae  slain  the  Lord  Johnstone, 

What  care  I  for  their  feid  ? 
My  noble  mind  their  wrath  disdains — 

He  was  my  father's  deid. 
Both  night  and  day  I  labour'd  oft 

Of  him  avenged  to  be  ; 
But  now  I've  got  what  lang  I  sought, 

And  I  may  not  stay  with  thee. 

"  Adieu  !  Drumlanrig,  false  wert  aye, 

And  Closeburn  in  a  band  ! 
The  Laird  of  Lag,  frae  my  father  that  fled, 

When  the  Johnston  struck  aft'  his  hand. 

1  This  ballad  suggested  the  famous  song  in  Childe  Haroldt 
My  Native  Land,  Good-night." 

72 


LORD  MAXWELL'S  GOOD-NIGHT 

They  were  three  brethren  in  a  band — 

Joy  may  they  never  see  ! 
Their  treacherous  art,  and  cowardly  heart, 

Has  twined  my  love  and  me. 

"  Adieu  !  Dumfries,  my  proper  place, 

But  and  Carlaverock  fair  ! 
Adieu  !  my  castle  of  the  Thrieve, 

Wi1  a"1  my  buildings  there  : 
Adieu  !  Lochmaben's  gate  sae  fair, 

The  Langholm-holm,  where  birks  there  be  ; 
Adieu  !  my  ladye,  and  only  joy, 

For,  trust  me,  I  may  not  stay  wi1  thee. 

"  Adieu  !  fair  Eskdale  up  and  down, 

Where  my  puir  friends  do  dwell ; 
The  bangisters x  will  ding  them  down, 

Ajid  will  them  sair  compell. 
But  Til  avenge  their  feid  mysell, 

When  I  come  o'er  the  sea ; 
Adieu  !  my  ladye,  and  only  joy, 

For  I  may  not  stay  wi1  thee.11 — 

"  Lord  of  the  land  !  " — that  ladye  said, 

"  O  wad  ye  go  wi1  me, 
Unto  my  brother's  stately  tower, 

Where  safest  ye  may  be  ! 
There  Hamiltons,  and  Douglas  baith, 

Shall  rise  to  succour  thee." — 
"  Thanks  for  thy  kindness,  fair  my  dame, 
But  I  may  not  stay  wi1  thee.11 — 

1  Bangisters — the  prevailing  party. 

73 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

Then  he  tuik  aff  a  gay  gold  ring, 

Thereat  hang  signets  three ; 
"  Hae,  tak  thee  that,  mine  ain  dear  thing, 

And  still  hae  mind  o1  me  : 
But  if  thou  take  another  lord, 

Ere  I  come  ower  the  sea — 
His  life  is  but  a  three  days1  lease, 

Though  I  may  not  stay  wi'  thee." — 

The  wind  was  fair,  the  ship  was  clear, 

That  good  lord  went  away  ; 
And  most  part  of  his  friends  were  there, 

To  give  him  a  fair  convey. 
They  drank  the  wine,  they  didna  spair, 

Even  in  that  gude  lord's  sight — 
Sae  now  he's  o'er  the  floods  sae  grey, 

And  Lord  Maxwell  has  ta'en  his  Good-night. 


74 


THE  BATTLE  OF  OTTERBOURNE 

It  fell  about  the  Lammas  tide, 

When  the  muir-men  win  their  hay, 

The  doughty  Douglas  bound  him  to  ride 
Into  England,  to  chive  a  prey. 

He  chose  the  Gordons  and  the  Graemes, 
With  them  the  Lindesays,  light  and  gay. 

But  the  Jardines  wald  not  with  him  ride, 
And  they  rue  it  to  this  day. 

And  he  has  burned  the  dales  of  Tyne, 
And  part  of  Bambrough  shire  ; 

And  three  good  towers  on  Reidswire  fells, 
He  left  them  all  on  fire. 

And  he  march'd  up  to  Newcastle, 

And  rode  it  round  about ; 
"  O  wha's  the  lord  of  this  castle, 

Or  wha's  the  lady  o't  ?  M— 

But  up  spake  proud  Lord  Percy,  then, 

And  O  but  he  spake  hie ! 
"  I  am  the  lord  of  this  castle, 

My  wife's  the  lady  gay." 

75 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

"  If  thouYt  the  lord  of  this  castle, 

Sae  weel  it  pleases  me  ! 
For,  ere  I  cross  the  Border  fells, 

The  tane  of  us  shall  die." — 

He  took  a  lang  spear  in  his  hand, 

Shod  with  the  metal  free, 
And  for  to  meet  the  Douglas  there, 

He  rode  right  furiouslie. 

But  0  how  pale  his  lady  look*cl, 

Frae  aff  the  castle  wa1, 
When  down  before  the  Scottish  spear 

She  saw  proud  Percy  fa\ 

"  Had  we  twa  been  upon  the  green, 

And  never  an  eye  to  see, 
I  would  hae  had  you,  flesh  and  fell ; 1 

But  your  sword  sail  gae  wf  me." — 

"  But  gae  ye  up  to  Otterbourne, 

And  wait  there  dayis  three ; 
And  if  I  come  not  ere  three  dayis  end, 

A  fause  knight  ca''  ye  me." 

"  The  Otterbourne,s  a  bonnie  burn  ; 

'Tis  pleasant  there  to  be ; 
But  there  is  nought  at  Otterbourne, 

To  feed  my  men  and  me. 

1  Fell— hide.     Douglas  insinuates  that  Percy  was  rescued  by 
his  soldiers. 

76 


THE  BATTLE  OF  OTTERBOURNE 
"  The  deer  rins  wild  on  hill  and  dale. 


> 


The  birds  fly  wild  from  tree  to  tree ; 
But  there  is  neither  bread  nor  kale, 
To  fend  my  men  and  me. 

"  Yet  I  will  stay  at  Otterbourne, 

Where  you  shall  welcome  be  ; 
And,  if  ye  come  not  at  three  day  is  end, 

A  fause  lord  111  ca1  thee." — 

"  Thither  will  I  come,"  proud  Percy  said, 
"  By  the  might  of  Our  Ladye  !  " 

"  There  will  I  bide  thee,"  said  the  Douglas, 
"  My  troth  I  plight  to  thee." 

They  lighted  high  on  Otterbourne, 

Upon  the  bent  sae  brown ; 
They  lighted  high  on  Otterbourne, 

And  threw  their  pallions  down. 

And  he  that  had  a  bonnie  boy, 

Sent  out  his  horse  to  grass  ; 
And  he  that  had  not  a  bonnie  boy, 

His  ain  servant  he  was. 

But  up  then  spake  a  little  page, 

Before  the  peep  of  dawn — 
"  O  waken  ye,  waken  ye,  my  good  lord 

For  Percy's  hard  at  hand." — 

"  Ye  lie,  ye  lie,  ye  liar  loud  ! 
Sae  loud  I  hear  ye  lie  : 

77 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

For  Percy  had  not  men  yestreen 
To  dight  my  men  and  me. 

"  But  I  have  dream'd  a  dreary  dream 

Beyond  the  Isle  of  Sky  ; 
I  saw  a  dead  man  win  a  fight, 

And  I  think  that  man  was  I." 

He  belted  on  his  guid  braid  sword, 

And  to  the  field  he  ran  ; 
But  he  forgot  the  helmet  good 

That  should  have  kept  his  brain. 

When  Percy  wi1  the  Douglas  met, 

I  wat  he  was  fu'  fain  ! 
They  swakked  their  swords,  till  sair  they  swat, 

And  the  blood  ran  down  like  rain. 

But  Percy  with  his  good  broad  sword, 

That  could  so  sharply  wound, 
Has  wounded  Douglas  on  the  brow, 

Till  he  fell  to  the  ground. 

Then  he  call'd  on  his  little  foot-page, 

And  said — "  Run  speedilie, 
And  fetch  my  ain  dear  sister's  son, 

Sir  Hugh  Montgomery. 

"  My  nephew  good,"'''  the  Douglas  said, 

"  What  recks  the  death  of  ane  ! 
Last  night  I  dreamed  a  dreary  dream, 

And  I  ken  the  day's  thy  ain. 

78 


THE  BATTLE  OF  OTTERBOURNE 

"  My  wound  is  deep  ;  I  fain  would  sleep  ; 

Take  thou  the  vanguard  of  the  three, 
And  hide  me  by  the  braken  bush, 

That  grows  on  yonder  lilye  lee. 

"  O  bury  me  by  the  braken  bush, 

Beneath  the  blooming  brier, 
Let  never  living  mortal  ken 

That  ere  a  kindly  Scot  lies  here." 

He  lifted  up  that  noble  lord, 

Wi1  the  saut  tear  in  his  ee ; 
He  hid  him  in  the  braken  bush, 

That  his  merrie-men  might  not  see. 

The  moon  was  clear,  the  day  drew  near, 

The  spears  in  flinders  flew, 
But  mony  a  gallant  Englishman 

Ere  day  the  Scotsmen  slew. 

The  Gordons  good,  in  English  blood, 
They  steep'd  their  hose  and  shoon  ; 

The  Lindesays  flew  like  fire  about, 
Till  all  the  fray  was  done. 

The  Percy  and  Montgomery  met, 

That  either  of  other  were  fain  ; 
They  swapped  swords,  and  they  twa  swat, 

And  aye  the  blood  ran  down  between. 

"  Now  yield  thee,  yield  thee,  Percy,"  he  said, 
"  Or  else  I  vow  111  lay  thee  low  !  " 

79 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

"  To  whom  must  I  yield,"  quoth  Earl  Percy, 
"  Now  that  I  see  it  must  be  so  ?  " — 

"  Thou  shalt  not  yield  to  lord  nor  loun, 

Nor  yet  shalt  thou  yield  to  me ; 
But  yield  thee  to  the  brakes  bush, 

That  grows  upon  yon  lilye  lee  ! 11 — 

"  I  will  not  yield  to  a  braken  bush, 

Nor  yet  will  I  yield  to  a  brier ; 
But  I  would  yield  to  Earl  Douglas, 

Or    Sir    Hugh    the    Montgomery,    if   he    were 
here." 

As  soon  as  he  knew  it  was  Sir  Hugh, 

He  struck  his  sword's  point  in  the  gronde ; 

The  Montgomery  was  a  courteous  knight, 
And  quickly  took  him  by  the  honde. 

This  deed  was  done  at  Otterbourne 

About  the  breaking  of  the  day  ; 
Earl  Douglas  was  buried  at  the  braken  bush, 

And  the  Percy  led  captive  away. 


80 


The  Gordons  good,  in  English  blood 
They  steep 'd  their  hose  and  shoon. — 


See  />.  79. 


O  TELL  ME  HOW  TO  WOO  THEE 

If  doughty  deeds  my  ladye  please, 
Right  soon  111  mount  my  steed ; 
And  strong  his  arm,  and  fast  his  seat, 

That  bears  frae  me  the  meed. 
Til  wear  thy  colours  in  my  cap, 

Thy  picture  in  my  heart ; 
And  he  that  bends  not  to  thine  eye 
Shall  rue  it  to  his  smart. 

Then  tell  me  how  to  woo  thee,  love ; 

O  tell  me  how  to  woo  thee  ! 
For  thy  dear  sake,  nae  care  111  take, 
Tho1  ne'er  another  trow  me. 

If  gay  attire  delight  thine  eye, 

111  dight  me  in  array ; 
111  tend  thy  chamber  door  all  night, 

And  squire  thee  all  the  day. 
If  sweetest  sounds  can  win  thy  ear, 
These  sounds  111  strive  to  catch  ; 
Thy  voice  111  steal  to  woo  thysell, 
That  voice  that  nane  can  match. 
Then  tell  me  how  to  woo  thee,  love ; 

O  tell  me  how  to  woo  thee ! 
For  thy  dear  sake,  nae  care  111  take, 
Tho''  ne'er  another  trow  me. 
F  81 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

But  if  fond  love  thy  heart  can  gain, 

I  never  broke  a  vow  ; 
Nae  maiden  lays  her  skaith  to  me, 

I  never  loved  but  you. 
For  you  alone  I  ride  the  ring, 

For  you  I  wear  the  blue ; 
For  you  alone  I  strive  to  sing, 
O  tell  me  how  to  woo ! 

O  tell  me  how  to  woo  thee,  love ; 

O  tell  me  how  to  woo  thee  ! 
For  thy  dear  sake,  nae  care  ITl  take, 
Tho1  ne'er  another  trow  me. 


82 


THE  QUEEN'S  MARIE 

Marie  Hamilton's  to  the  kirk  gane, 

Wi'  ribbons  in  her  hair ; 
The  King  thought  mair  o'  Marie  Hamilton 

Than  ony  that  were  there. 

Marie  Hamilton's  to  the  kirk  sane, 

Wi'  ribbons  on  her  breast ; 
The  King  thought  mair  o'  Marie  Hamilton 

Than  he  listen'cl  to  the  priest. 

Marie  Hamilton's  to  the  kirk  gane, 

Wi'  gloves  upon  her  hands ; 
The  King  thought  mair  o'  Marie  Hamilton 

Than  the  Queen  and  a'  her  lands. 

She  hadna  been  about  the  King's  court 

A  month,  but  barely  one, 
Till  she  was  beloved  by  a'  the  King's  court, 

And  the  King  the  only  man. 

She  hadna  been  about  the  King's  court 

A  month,  but  barely  three, 
Till  frae  the  King's  court  Marie  Hamilton, 

Marie  Hamilton  durstna  be. 

83 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

The  King  is  to  the  Abbey  gane. 

To  pif  the  Abbey  tree, 
To  scale  the  babe  frae  Marie's  heart ; 

But  the  thing  it  wadna  be. 

O  she  has  row'd  it  in  her  apron, 

And  set  it  on  the  sea — 
"  Gae  sink  ye,  or  swim  ye,  bonny  babe, 

Ye'se  get  nae  mair  o1  me.'1 — 

Word  is  to  the  kitchen  gane, 

And  word  is  to  the  ha1, 
And  word  is  to  the  noble  room, 

Amang  the  ladyes  a', 
That  Marie  Hamilton's  brought  to  bed, 

And  the  bonny  babe's  mist  and  awa\ 


Scarcely  had  she  lain  down  again, 

And  scarcely  fa'en  asleep, 
When  up  then  started  our  gude  Queen, 

Just  at  her  bed-feet ; 
Saying — "  Marie  Hamilton,  where's  your  babe  ? 

For  I  am  sure  I  heard  it  greet." — 


£>" 


"  O  no,  O  no,  my  noble  Queen  ! 

Think  no  such  thing  to  be ; 
'Twas  but  a  stitch  into  my  side, 

And  sair  it  troubles  me." — 

"  Get  up,  get  up,  Marie  Hamilton 
Get  up  and  follow  me ; 

84 


THE  QUEEN'S  MARIE 

For  I  am  going  to  Edinburgh  town. 
A  rich  wedding  for  to  see/1 — 

0  slowly,  slowly  raise  she  up, 

And  slowly  put  she  on  ; 
And  slowly  rode  she  out  the  way, 

Wi1  mony  a  weary  groan. 

The  Queen  was  clad  in  scarlet, 
Her- merry  maids  all  in  green; 

And  every  town  that  they  cam  to, 
They  took  Marie  for  the  Queen. 

"  Ride  hooly,  hooly,  gentlemen, 

Ride  hooly  now  wi'  me  ! 
For  never,  I  am  sure,  a  wearier  burd 

Rade  in  your  companies — 


But  little  wist  Marie  Hamilton, 
When  she  rade  on  the  brown, 

That  she  was  ga'en  to  Edinburgh  town, 
And  a1  to  be  put  down. 

"  Why  weep  ye  so,  ye  burgess  wives, 

Why  look  ye  so  on  me  ? 
O,  I  am  going  to  Edinburgh  town, 

A  rich  wedding  for  to  see.v — 

When  she  gaed  up  the  tolbooth  stairs, 
The  corks  frae  her  heels  did  flee ; 

And  lang  or  e'er  she  cam  down  again, 
She  was  condemn'd  to  die. 
85 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

When  she  cam  to  the  Netherbow  port, 
She  laughed  loud  laughters  three  ; 

But  when  she  cam  to  the  gallows  foot, 
The  tears  blinded  her  ee. 

"  Yestreen  the  Queen  had  four  Maries, 

The  night  shell  hae  but  three ; 
There  was  Marie  Seaton,  and  Marie  Beaton, 

And  Marie  Carmichael,  and  me. 

"  0,  often  have  I  dressYl  my  Queen, 

And  put  gold  upon  her  hair ; 
But  now  I've  gotten  for  my  reward 

The  gallows  to  be  my  share. 

"  Often  have  I  dress'd  my  Queen, 

And  often  made  her  bed ; 
But  now  I've  gotten  for  my  reward 

The  gallows  tree  to  tread. 

"  I  charge  ye  all,  ye  mariners, 

When  ye  sail  ower  the  faem, 
Let  neither  my  father  nor  mother  get  wit 


But  that  I'm  coming  hame. 


"  I  charge  ye  all,  ye  mariners, 

That  sail  upon  the  sea, 
Let  neither  my  father  nor  mother  get  wit 

This  dog's  death  I'm  to  die. 

"  For  if  my  father  and  mother  got  wit, 
And  my  bold  brethren  three, 

86 


THE  QUEEN'S  MARIE 

O  mickle  wad  be  the  gude  red  blude 
This  day  wad  be  spilt  for  me  ! 

«  O  little  did  my  mother  ken, 
That  day  she  cradled  me, 

The  lands  I  was  to  travel  in 
Or  the  death  I  was  to  die  ! 


? 
•>•> 


37 


A  LYKE-WAKE  DIRGE 

This  ae  nighte,  this  ae  nighte, 

Every  night  and  alle  ; 
Fire  and  sleete,  and  candle  lighte, 

And  Christe  receive  thye  saule. 

When  thou  from  hence  away  are  paste, 

Every  night  and  alle  ; 
To  Whinny-muir  thou  comest  at  laste  ; 

And  Christe  receive  thye  saule. 

If  ever  thou  gavest  hosen  and  shoon, 

Every  night  and  alle  ; 
Sit  thee  down  and  put  them  on  ; 

And  Christe  receive  thye  saule. 

If  hosen  and  shoon  thou  ne'er  gavest  nane, 

Every  night  and  alle ; 
The  whinnes  shall  pricke  thee  to  the  bare  bane 

And  Christe  receive  thye  saule. 

From  Whinny-muir  when  thou  mayst  passe, 

Every  night  and  alle  ; 
To  Brigg  o1  Dread  thou  comest  at  laste ; 

And  Christe  receive  thve  saule. 

88 


A  LYKE-WAKE  DIRGE 

(A  stanza  wanting-.) 

From  Brigg  o1  Dread  when  thou  mayst  passe 

Every  night  and  alle ; 
To  purgatory  fire  thou  comest  at  laste  ; 

And  Christe  receive  thye  saule. 

If  ever  thou  gavest  meat  or  drink, 

Every  night  and  alle  ; 
The  fire  shall  never  make  thee  shrinke  ; 

And  Christe  receive  thye  saule. 

If  meate  or  drinke  thou  never  gavest  nane 

Every  night  and  alle  ; 
The  fire  will  burn  thee  to  the  bare  bane ; 

And  Christe  receive  thye  saule. 

This  ae  nighte,  this  ae  nighte, 

Every  night  and  alle  ; 
Fire  and  sleete,  and  candle  lighte, 

And  Christe  receive  thye  saule. 


89 


THE  LASS  OF  LOCHROYAN 

"  O  wha  will  shoe  my  bonny  foot  ? 

And  wha  will  glove  my  hand  ? 
And  wha  will  lace  my  middle  jimp 

Wf  a  lang,  lang  linen  band  ? 

"  0  wha  will  kame  my  yellow  hair, 
With  a  new-made  silver  kame  ? 

And  wha  will  father  my  young  son 
Till  Lord  Gregory  come  hame  ?  " — 

"  Thy  father  will  shoe  thy  bonny  foot, 
Thy  mother  will  glove  thy  hand, 

Thy  sister  will  lace  thy  middle  jimp, 
Till  Lord  Gregory  come  to  land. 

"  Thy  brother  will  kame  thy  yellow  hair 
With  a  new-made  silver  kame, 

And  God  will  be  thy  bairn's  father 
Till  Lord  Gregory  come  hame.1' — 

"  But  I  will  get  a  bonny  boat, 

And  I  will  sail  the  sea ; 
And  I  will  gang  to  Lord  Gregory, 

Since  he  canna  come  hame  to  me.11 
90 


THE  LASS  OF  LOCHROYAN 

Syne  she's  gar'd  build  a  bonny  boat, 

To  sail  the  salt,  salt  sea ; 
The  sails  were  o1  the  light  green  silk, 

The  tows *  o'  taffety. 

She  hadna  sailed  but  twenty  leagues, 
But  twenty  leagues  and  three, 

When  she  met  wi'  a  rank  robber, 
And  a"  his  company. 

"  Now  whether  are  ye  the  Queen  hersell 

(For  so  ye  weel  might  be,) 
Or  are  ye  the  Lass  of  Lochroyan, 

Seekin'  Lord  Gregory  ? " — 

"  O  I  am  neither  the  Queen,"  she  said, 

"  Nor  sic  I  seem  to  be ; 
But  I  am  the  Lass  of  Lochroyan, 

Seekm1  Lord  Gregory." — 

"  O  see  na  thou  yon  bonny  bower, 

It's  a'  cover'd  o'er  wi1  tin  ? 
When  thou  hast  saiFd  it  round  about, 
Lord  Gregory  is  within.'''' 

And  when  she  saw  the  stately  tower 
Shining  sae  clear  and  bright, 

Whilk  stood  aboon  the  jawing  2  wave, 
Built  on  a  rock  of  height ; 

i  Tows— ropes.  "Jawing—  dashing. 

91 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

Says — "  How  the  boat,  my  mariners, 

And  bring  me  to  the  land  ! 
For  yonder  I  see  my  love's  castle 

Close  by  the  salt-sea  strand." 

She  saiPd  it  round,  and  sail'd  it  round, 

And  loud,  loud  cried  she — 
"  Now  break,  now  break,  ye  fairy  charms, 

And  set  my  true  love  free ! " 

She's  ta'en  her  young  son  in  her  arms, 

And  to  the  door  she's  gane  : 
And  long  she  knock'd,  and  sair  she  ca'd, 

But  answer  got  she  nane. 

"  O  open  the  door,  Lord  Gregory  ! 

O  open  and  let  me  in  ! 
For  the  wind  blows  through  my  yellow  hair, 

And  the  rain  draps  o'er  my  chin.11 — 

"  Awa,  awa,  ye  ill  woman  ! 

Ye're  no  come  here  for  good ! 
Ye're  but  some  witch  or  wil  warlock, 

Or  mermaid  o'  the  flood.11 — 

"  I  am  neither  witch,  nor  wil  warlock, 

Nor  mermaid  o1  the  sea ; 
But  I  am  Annie  of  Lochroyan  ; 

O  open  the  door  to  me  ! 11 — 

"  Gin  thou  be  Annie  of  Lochroyan, 
(As  I  trow  thou  binna  she,) 

92 


THE  LASS  OF  LOCHROYAN 

Now  tell  me  some  o1  the  love-tokens 
That  past  between  thee  and  me." — 

"  O  dinna  ye  mind,  Lord  Gregory, 

As  we  sat  at  the  wine, 
We  changed  the  rings  frae  our  fingers, 

And  I  can  show  thee  thine  ? 

"  O  yours  was  gude  and  gude  enough, 

But  aye  the  best  was  mine ; 
For  yours  was  o1  the  gude  red  gowd, 

But  mine  o1  the  diamond  fine. 

"  And  has  na  thou  mind,  Lord  Gregory, 

As  we  sat  on  the  hill, 
Thou  twin'd  me  o1  my  maidenheid 

Right  sair  against  my  will  ? 

"  Now,  open  the  door,  Lord  Gregory, 

Open  the  door,  I  pray  ! 
For  thy  young  son  is  in  my  arms, 

And  will  be  dead  ere  day." 

'k  If  thou  be  the  Lass  of  Lochroyan, 

(As  I  kenna  thou  be,) 
Tell  me  some  mair  0'  the  love-tokens 

Past  between  me  and  thee." 

Fair  Annie  turn'd  her  round  about — 
"  Weel !  since  that  it  be  sae, 

May  never  a  woman  that  has  borne  a  son 
Hae  a  heart  sae  fou  o"'  wae  ! 

93 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

"  Take  down,  take  down,  that  mast  o1  gowd  ! 

Set  up  a  mast  o'  tree ! 
It  disna  become  a  forsaken  lady 

To  sail  sae  royallie.11 

When  the  cock  had  crawn,  and  the  day  did  dawn, 

And  the  sun  began  to  peep, 
Then  up  and  raise  him  Lord  Gregory, 

And  sair,  sair  did  he  weep. 

"01  hae  dream'd  a  dream,  mother, 

I  wish  it  may  prove  true  ! 
That  the  bonny  Lass  of  Lochroyan 

Was  at  the  yate  e'en  now. 

"01  hae  dream'd  a  dream,  mother, 

The  thought  o't  gars  me  greet ! 
That  fair  Annie  o'  Lochroyan 

Lay  cauld  dead  at  my  feet." — 

"  Gin  it  be  for  Annie  of  Lochroyan 

That  ye  make  a1  this  din, 
She  stood  a"  last  night  at  your  door, 

But  I  trow  she  wan  na  in.11 — 

"  O  wae  betide  ye,  ill  woman  ! 

An  ill  deid  may  ye  die  ! 
That  wadna  open  the  door  to  her, 

Nor  yet  wad  waken  me.11 

O  he's  gane  down  to  yon  shore  side 
As  fast  as  he  could  fare ; 

94 


THE  LASS  OF  LOCHROYAN 

He  saw  fair  Annie  in  the  boat, 
But  the  wind  it  toss\l  her  sair. 

"  And  hey,  Annie,  and  how,  Annie  ! 

O  Annie,  winna  ye  bide  ! 11 
But  aye  the  mair  he  cried  Annie, 

The  braider  grew  the  tide. 

"  And  hey,  Annie,  and  how,  Annie  ! 

Dear  Annie,  speak  to  me  !  " 
But  aye  the  louder  he  cried  Annie, 

The  louder  roar'd  the  sea. 

The  wind  blew  loud,  the  sea  grew  rough, 
And  dash'd  the  boat  on  shore  ; 

Fair  Annie  floated  through  the  faem, 
But  the  babie  rose  no  more. 

Lord  Gregory  tore  his  yellow  hair, 

And  made  a  heavy  moan  ; 
Fair  Annie's  corpse  lay  at  his  feet, 

Her  bonny  young  son  was  gone. 

O  cherry,  cherry  was  her  cheek, 

And  gowden  was  her  hair ; 
But  clay-cold  were  her  rosy  lips — 

Nae  spark  o1  life  was  there. 

And  first  he  kiss'd  her  cherry  cheek, 

And  syne  he  kiss'd  her  chin, 
And  syne  he  kiss'd  her  rosy  lips — 

There  was  nae  breath  within. 

95 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

"  O  wae  betide  my  cruel  mother  ! 

An  ill  death  may  she  die ! 
She  turu'd  my  true  love  frae  my  door, 

Wha  cam  sae  far  to  me. 

"  0  wae  betide  my  cruel  mother  ! 

An  ill  death  may  she  die ! 
She  turn'd  fair  Annie  frae  my  door, 

Wha  died  for  love  o1  me.-" 


9e 


THE  YOUNG  TAMLANE 

"01  forbid  ye,  maidens  a', 
That  wear  gowd  on  your  hair, 

To  come  or  gae  by  Carterhaugh, 
For  young  Tamlane  is  there. 

"  There's  nane  that  gaes  by  Carterhaugh 
But  maun  leave  him  a  wad,1 

Either  gowd  rings  or  green  mantles, 
Or  else  their  maidenheid. 

"  Now  gowd  rings  ye  may  buy,  maidens, 
Green  mantles  ye  may  spin ; 

But  gin  ye  lose  your  maidenheid, 
Yell  ne'er  get  that  agen." — 

But  up  then  spake  her,  fair  Janet, 

The  fairest  o1  a'  her  kin ; 
"  I'll  cum  and  gang  to  Carterhaugh, 

And  ask  nae  leave  o1  him." — 

Janet  has  kilted  her  green  kirtle, 

A  little  abune  her  knee  ; 
And  she  has  braided  her  yellow  hair, 

A  little  abune  her  bree. 

1  Wad — pledge. 

G  97 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

And  when  she  came  to  Carterhaugh 

She  gaed  beside  the  well ; 
And  there  she  fand  his  steed  standing, 

But  away  was  hiinsell. 

She  hadna  pu\l  a  red  red  rose, 

A  rose  but  barely  three ; 
Till  up  and  starts  a  wee  wee  man, 

At  lady  Janet's  knee. 

Says — "  Why  pu1  ye  the  rose,  Janet  ? 

What  gars  ye  break  the  tree  ? 
Or  why  come  ye  to  Carterhaugh, 

Withouten  leave  0'  me  ? " — 

Says — "  Carterhaugh  it  is  mine  ain  ; 

My  daddie  gave  it  me  : 
111  come  and  gang  to  Carterhaugh, 

And  ask  nae  leave  0'  thee.11 

He^  ta'en  her  by  the  milk-white  hand, 

Among  the  leaves  sae  green  ; 
And  what  they  did,  I  cannot  tell — 

The  green  leaves  were  between. 

He^  ta'en  her  by  the  milk-white  hand, 

Among  the  roses  red  ; 
And  what  they  did,  I  cannot  say — 

She  ne'er  return'd  a  maid. 

When  she  cam  to  her  father's  ha1, 
She  looked  pale  and  wan  ; 

98 


THE  YOUNG  TAMLANE 

They  thought  she'd  dreed  some  sail'  sickness, 
Or  been  with  some  leman. 

She  didna  comb  her  yellow  hair, 

Nor  make  meikle  o'  her  head  ; 
And  ilka  thing  that  lady  took, 

Was  like  to  be  her  deid. 

It's  four-and-twenty  ladies  fair 

Were  playing  at  the  ba' ; 
Janet,  the  wightest  of  them  anes, 

Was  faintest  o1  them  a\ 

Four-and-twenty  ladies  fair 

Were  playing  at  the  chess  ; 
And  out  there  came  the  fair  Janet, 

As  green  as  any  grass. 

Out  and  spak  an  auld  grey-headed  knight, 

Lay  o'er  the  castle  wa1 — 
"  And  ever,  alas  !  for  thee,  Janet, 

But  we'll  be  blamed  a?  !  "— 

"  Now  haud  your  tongue,  ye  auld  grey  knight ! 

And  an  ill  deid  may  ye  die, 
Father  my  bairn  on  whom  I  will, 

Til  father  nane  on  thee." — 

Out  then  spak  her  father  dear, 

And  he  spak  meik  and  mild — 
"  And  ever,  alas  !  my  sweet  Janet, 

I  fear  ye  gae  with  child." — 
99 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

"And  if  I  be  with  child,  father, 

Mysell  maun  bear  the  blame  ; 
There's  ne'er  a  knight  about  your  ha1 

Shall  hae  the  bairnie's  name. 

"  And  if  I  be  with  child,  father, 
Twill  prove  a  wondrous  birth  ; 

For  weel  I  swear  I'm  not  wf  bairn 
To  any  man  on  earth. 

"  If  my  love  were  an  earthly  knight, 

As  he's  an  elfin  grey, 
I  wadna  gie  my  ain  true  love 

For  nae  lord  that  ye  hae." — 

She  prink'd  hersell  and  prinn'd  hersell, 

By  the  ae  light  of  the  moon, 
And  she's  away  to  Carterhaugh, 

To  speak  wi1  young  Tamlane. 

And  when  she  cam  to  Carterhaugh, 

She  gaed  beside  the  well ; 
And  there  she  saw  the  steed  standing, 

But  away  was  himsell. 

She  hadna  pu'd  a  double  rose, 

A  rose  but  only  twae, 
When  up  and  started  young  Tamlane, 

Says — "  Lady,  thou  pu's  nae  mae ! 
IOO 


THE  YOUNG  TAMLANE 

"  Why  pif  ye  the  rose,  Janet, 

Within  this  garden  grene, 
And  a1  to  kill  the  bonny  babe, 

That  we  got  us  between  ?  " — 

"  The  truth  yell  tell  to  me,  Tamlane ; 

A  word  ye  mauna  lie ; 
Gin  e'er  ye  was  in  haly  chapel, 

Or  sained x  in  Christentie  ?  " — 

"  The  truth  111  tell  to  thee,  Janet 

A  word  I  winna  lie  ; 
A  knight  me  got,  and  a  lady  me  bore, 

As  well  as  they  did  thee. 

"  Randolph,  Earl  Murray,  was  my  sire, 
Dunbar,  Earl  March,  is  thine ; 

We  loved  when  we  were  children  small, 
Which  yet  you  well  may  mind. 

"  When  I  was  a  boy  just  turii'd  of  nine, 

My  uncle  sent  for  me, 
To  hunt,  and  hawk,  and  ride  with  him, 

And  keep  him  companie. 

"  There  came  a  wind  out  of  the  north, 

A  sharp  wind  and  a  snell ; 
And  a  deep  sleep  came  over  me, 

And  frae  my  horse  I  fell. 

1  Sained — hallowed. 
IOI 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

"  The  Queen  of  Fairies  keppit  me 

In  yon  green  hill  to  dwell ; 
And  I'm  a  fairy,  lyth  and  limb ; 

Fair  ladye,  view  me  well. 

"  But  we,  that  live  in  Fairy-land, 

No  sickness  know,  nor  pain, 
I  quit  my  body  when  I  will, 

Amltaketoitagain- 

"  I  quit  my  body  when  I  please, 

Or  unto  it  repair  ; 
We  can  inhabit,  at  our  ease, 

In  either  earth  or  air ; 

"  Our  shapes  and  size  we  can  convert 

To  either  large  or  small ; 
An  old  nutshell's  the  same  to  us 

As  is  the  lofty  hall. 

"We  sleep  in  rose-buds  soft  and  sweet, 

We  revel  in  the  stream  ; 
We  wanton  lightly  on  the  wind, 

Or  glide  on  a  sunbeam. 

"  And  all  our  wants  are  well  supplied 

From  every  rich  man's  store, 
Who  thankless  sins  the  gifts  he  gets, 

And  vainly  grasps  for  more. 

"  Then  would  I  never  tire,  Janet, 
In  Elfish  land  to  dwell ; 
1 02 


THE  YOUNG  TAMLANE 

But  aye,  at  every  seven  years, 
They  pay  the  teind  to  hell ; 

And  I  am  sae  fat  and  fair  of  flesh, 
I  fear  'twill  be  mysell. 

"  This  night  is  Hallowe'en,  Janet, 

The  morn  is  Hallowday ; 
And,  gin  ye  dare  your  true  love  win, 

Ye  hae  nae  time  to  stay. 

"  The  night  it  is  good  Hallowe'en, 

When  fairy  folk  will  ride ; 
And  they  that  wad  their  true-love  win, 

At  Miles  Cross  they  maun  bide." — 

"  But  how  shall  I  thee  ken,  Tamlane  ? 

Or  how  shall  I  thee  knaw, 
Amang  so  many  unearthly  knights, 

The  like  I  never  saw  ?  " — 

"  The  first  company  that  passes  by, 

Say  na,  and  let  them  gae ; 
The  next  company  that  passes  by, 

Sae  na,  and  do  right  sae ; 
The  third  company  that  passes  by, 

Then  I'll  be  ane  o'  thae. 

"  First  let  pass  the  black,  Janet, 
And  syne  let  pass  the  brown ; 

But  grip  ye  to  the  milk-white  steed, 
And  pu'  the  rider  down. 
103 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 
"  For  I  ride  on  the  milk-white  steed, 


i 


And  aye  nearest  the  town  ; 
Because  I  was  a  christened  knight, 
They  gave  me  that  renown. 

"  My  right  hand  will  be  gloved,  Janet, 

My  left  hand  will  be  bare ; 
And  these  the  tokens  I  gie  thee, 

Nae  doubt  I  will  be  there. 

"  They'll  turn  me  in  your  arms,  Janet, 

An  adder  and  a  snake  ; 
But  haud  me  fast,  let  me  not  pass, 

Gin  ye  wad  buy  me  maik. 

"  They'll  turn  me  in  your  arms,  Janet, 

An  adder  and  an  ask ; 
They'll  turn  me  in  your  arms,  Janet, 

A  bale  that  burns  fast. 

"  They'll  turn  me  in  your  arms,  Janet, 

A  red-hot  gad  o'  aim  ; 
But  haud  me  fast,  let  me  not  pass, 

For  I'll  do  you  no  harm. 

"  First  dip  me  in  a  stand  o1  milk, 
And  then  in  a  stand  o'  water ; 

But  haud  me  fast,  let  me  not  pass — 
I'll  be  your  bairn's  father. 

"  And,  next,  they'll  shape  me  in  your  arms, 
A  tod,  but  and  an  eel ; 

104 


THE  YOUNG  TAMLANE 

But  haud  me  fast,  nor  let  me  gang, 
As  you  do  love  me  weel. 

"  They'll  shape  me  in  your  arms,  Janet, 

A  dove,  but  and  a  swan  ; 
And,  last,  they , 11  shape  me  in  your  arms 

A  mother-naked  man : 
Cast  your  green  mantle  over  me — 

I'll  be  myself  again." — 

Gloomy,  gloomy,  was  the  night, 

And  eirv  was  the  way, 
As  fair  Janet  in  her  green  mantle, 

To  Miles  Cross  she  did  gae. 

The  heavens  were  black,  the  night  was  dark, 

And  dreary  was  the  place ; 
But  Janet  stood,  with  eager  wish, 

Her  lover  to  embrace. 

Betwixt  the  hours  of  twelve  and  one, 

A  north  wind  tore  the  bent ; 
And  straight  she  heard  strange  elritch  sounds, 

Upon  that  wind  which  went. 

About  the  dead  horn  o"  the  night, 

She  heard  the  bridles  ring ; 
And  Janet  was  as  glad  o'  that 

As  any  earthly  thing. 

Their  oaten  pipes  blew  wondrous  shrill, 
The  hemlock  small  blew  clear ; 
105 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

And  louder  notes  from  hemlock  large, 
And  bo^-reed,  struck  the  ear ; 

But  solemn  sounds,  or  sober  thoughts, 
The  Fairies  cannot  bear. 

They  sing,  inspired  with  love  and  joy, 

Like  skylarks  in  the  air ; 
Of  solid  sense,  or  thought  that's  grave, 

You'll  find  no  traces  there. 

Fair  Janet  stood,  with  mind  unmoved, 

The  dreary  heath  upon  ; 
And  louder,  louder  wax'd  the  sound, 

As  they  came  riding  on. 

Will  o1  Wisp  before  them  went, 

Sent  forth  a  twinkling  light ; 
And  soon  she  saw  the  Fairy  bands 

All  riding  in  her  sight. 

And  first  gaed  by  the  black  black  steed, 
And  then  gaed  by  the  brown  ; 

But  fast  she  gript  the  milk-white  steed, 
And  pu'd  the  rider  down. 

She  pu\l  him  frae  the  milk-white  steed, 

And  loot  the  bridle  fa'' ; 
And  up  there  raise  an  elritch  cry — 

"  He's  won  among  us  a1 !  " 

They  shaped  him  in  fair  Janet's  arms, 
An  ask,  but  and  an  adder ; 
1 06 


THE  YOUNG  TAMLANE 

She  held  him  fast  in  every  shape — 
To  be  her  bairn's  father. 

They  shaped  him  in  her  arms  at  last, 

A  mother-naked  man : 
She  wrapt  him  in  her  green  mantle, 

And  sae  her  true  love  wan  ! 

Up  then  spake  the  Queen  o'  Fairies, 

Out  o'  a  bush  0"  broom — 
"  She  that  has  borrow'd  young  Tamlane 

Has  gotten  a  stately  groom." — 

Up  then  spake  the  Queen  o'  Fairies, 

Out  o'  a  bush  o'  rye — 
"  She's  ta'en  awa  the  bonniest  knight 

In  a'  my  cumpanie. 

" But  had  I  kenn'd,  Tamlane,"  she  says, 
"  A  lady  wad  borrowed  thee — 

I  wad  ta'en  out  thy  twa  grey  een, 
Put  in  twa  een  o'  tree. 

"  Had  I  but  kenn'd,  Tamlane,"  she  says, 
"  Before  ye  came  frae  hame — 

I  wad  ta'en  out  your  heart  o'  flesh, 
Put  in  a  heart  o'  stane. 

"  Had  I  but  had  the  wit  yestreen 

That  I  hae  coft  the  day — 
I'd  paid  my  kane  seven  times  to  hell 

Ere  you'd  been  won  away  !  " 
107 


THE  CRUEL  SISTER 

There  were  two  sisters  sat  in  a  bour, 

Binnorie,  O  Binnorie,1 
There  came  a  knight  to  be  their  wooer ; 

By  the  bonny  milldams  of  Binnorie. 

He  courted  the  eldest  with  glove  and  ring, 

Binnorie,  O  Binnorie; 
But  he  lo'ed  the  youngest  abune  sC  thing ; 

By  the  bonny  milldams  of  Binnorie. 

He  courted  the  eldest  with  broach  and  knife, 

Binnorie,  O  Binnorie ; 
But  he  lo'ed  the  youngest  abune  his  life ; 

By  the  bonny  milldams  of  Binnorie. 

The  eldest  she  was  vexed  sair, 

Binnorie,  O  Binnorie ; 
And  sore  envied  her  sister  fair ; 

By  the  bonny  milldams  of  Binnorie. 

The  eldest  said  to  the  youngest  ane, 

Binnorie,  O  Binnorie ; 
"  Will  ye  go  and  see  our  father's  ships  come  in  ?" — 

By  the  bonny  milldams  of  Binnorie. 

1  [Pronounced  Binnorie.] 

108 


THE  CRUEL  SISTER 

She's  ta'en  her  by  the  lily  hand, 

Binnorie,  O  Binnorie ; 
And  led  her  down  to  the  river  strand ; 

By  the  bonny  milldams  of  Binnorie. 

The  youngest  stude  upon  a  stane, 

Binnorie,  O  Binnorie ; 
The  eldest  came  and  pushed  her  in ; 

By  the  bonny  milldams  of  Binnorie. 

She  took  her  by  the  middle  sma', 

Binnorie,  O  Binnorie ; 
And  dash'd  her  bonny  back  to  the  jaw  ; 

By  the  bonny  milldams  of  Binnorie. 

"  O  sister,  sister,  reach  your  hand, 

Binnorie,  O  Binnorie ; 
And  ye  shall  be  heir  of  half  my  land," — 

By  the  bonny  milldams  of  Binnorie. 

"  O  sister,  Til  not  reach  my  hand, 

Binnorie,  O  Binnorie ; 
And  I'll  be  heir  of  all  your  land ; 

By  the  bonny  milldams  of  Binnorie. 

"  Shame  fa1  the  hand  that  I  should  take, 

Binnorie,  0  Binnorie ; 
It's  twin'd  me,  and  my  world's  make," — 

By  the  bonny  milldams  of  Binnorie. 
109 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

"  O  sister,  reach  me  but  your  glove ! 
Binnorie,  O  Binnorie; 

And  sweet  William  shall  be  your  love," — 

By  the  bonny  milldams  of  Binnorie. 

"  Sink  on,  nor  hope  for  hand  or  glove ! 

Binnorie,  O  Binnorie ; 
And  sweet  William  shall  better  be  my  love, 

By  the  bonny  milldams  of  Binnorie. 

"  Your  cherry  cheeks  and  your  yellow  hair, 

Binnorie,  O  Binnorie ; 
Garr'd  me  gang  maiden  evermair," — 

By  the  bonny  milldams  of  Binnorie. 

Sometimes  she  sunk,  and  sometimes  she  swam, 

Binnorie,  O  Binnorie ; 
Until  she  cam  to  the  miller's  dam  ; 

By  the  bonny  milldams  of  Binnorie. 

"  O  father,  father,  draw  your  dam  ! 

Binnorie,  O  Binnorie ; 
There's  either  a  mermaid,  or  a  milk-white  swan.1'' — 

By  the  bonny  milldams  of  Binnorie. 

The  miller  hasted  and  drew  his  dam, 

Binnorie,  O  Binnorie ; 
And  there  he  found  a  drown'd  woman  ; 

By  the  bonny  milldams  of  Binnorie. 

HO 


THE  CRUEL  SISTER 

You  could  not  see  her  yellow  hair, 

Binnorie,  O  Binnorie ; 
For  gowd  and  pearls  that  were  so  rare ; 

By  the  bonny  milldams  of  Binnorie. 

You  could  not  see  her  middle  sma', 

Binnorie,  O  Binnorie ; 
Her  sowden  cm-die  was  sae  bra"" ; 

By  the  bonny  milldams  of  Binnorie. 

A  famous  harper  passing  by, 

Binnorie,  O  Binnorie ; 
The  sweet  pale  face  he  chanced  to  spy ; 

By  the  bonny  milldams  of  Binnorie. 

And  when  he  looked  that  lady  on, 

Binnorie,  O  Binnorie ; 
He  sigh'd  and  made  a  heavy  moan  ; 

By  the  bonny  milldams  of  Binnorie. 

He  made  a  harp  of  her  breast-bone, 

Binnorie,  O  Binnorie ; 
Whose  sounds  would  melt  a  heart  of  stone  ; 

By  the  bonny  milldams  of  Binnorie. 

The  strings  he  framed  of  her  yellow  hair, 

Binnorie,  O  Binnorie ; 
Whose  notes  made  sad  the  listening  ear ; 

By  the  bonny  milldams  of  Binnorie. 
Ill 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

He  brought  it  to  her  father's  hall, 

Binnorie,  O  Binnorie ; 
And  there  was  the  court  assembled  all ; 

By  the  bonny  milldams  of  Binnorie. 

He  laid  his  harp  upon  a  stone, 

Binnorie,  O  Binnorie ; 
And  straight  it  began  to  play  alone ; 

By  the  bonny  milldams  of  Binnorie. 

"  O  yonder  sits  my  father,  the  King, 

Binnorie,  O  Binnorie ; 
And  yonder  sits  my  mother,  the  Queen ; 

By  the  bonny  milldams  of  Binnorie. 

"  And  yonder  stands  my  brother  Hugh, 

Binnorie,  O  Binnorie ; 
And  by  him  my  William,  sweet  and  true." — 

By  the  bonny  milldams  of  Binnorie. 

But  the  last  tune  that  the  harp  play'd  then, 

Binnorie,  O  Binnorie ; 
Was — "  Woe  to  my  sister,  false  Helen  !  " 

By  the  bonny  milldams  of  Binnorie. 


112 


But  fust  she  gript  the   milk-white  steed 
Aud  pu'd   the  rider  down. — 


See  p.    106. 


THOMAS   THE   RHYMER 

Part  First 
(Ancient) 

True  Thomas  lay  on  Huntlie  bank  ; 

A  ferlie  he  spied  wi'  his  ee ; 
And  there  he  saw  a  ladye  bright, 

Come  riding  down  by  the  Eildon  Tree. 

Her  shirt  was  o1  the  grass-green  silk, 
Her  mantle  o1  the  velvet  fyne ; 

At  ilka  tett  of  her  horse's  mane, 
Hung  fifty  siller  bells  and  nine. 

True  Thomas,  he  pulTd  aff  his  cap, 
And  louted  low  down  to  his  knee, 

"  All  hail,  thou  mighty  Queen  of  Heaven  ! 
For  thy  peer  on  earth  I  never  did  see." — 

"  O  no,  O  no,  Thomas,11  she  said, 

"  That  name  does  not  belang  to  me ; 

I  am  but  the  Queen  of  fair  Elfland, 
That  am  hither  come  to  visit  thee. 

H  113 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

"  Harp  and  carp,  Thomas,"  she  said  ; 

"  Harp  and  carp  along  wi1  me  ; 
And  if  ye  dare  to  kiss  my  lips, 

Sure  of  your  bodie  I  will  be." — 

"  Betide  me  weal,  betide  me  woe, 

That  weird 1  shall  never  daunton  me." — 

Syne  he  has  kissed  her  rosy  lips, 
All  underneath  the  Eildon  Tree. 

"  Now,  ye  maun  go  wi'  me,"  she  said ; 

"  True  Thomas,  ye  maun  go  wi'  me ; 
And  ye  maun  serve  me  seven  years, 

Thro'  weal  or  woe  as  may  chance  to  be." 

She  mounted  on  her  milk-white  steed ; 

She's  ta'en  true  Thomas  up  behind  : 
And  aye,  whene'er  her  bridle  rung, 

The  steed  flew  swifter  than  the  wind. 

O  they  rade  on,  and  farther  on ; 

The  steed  gaed  swifter  than  the  wind ; 
Until  they  reach'd  a  desert  wide, 

And  living  land  was  left  behind. 


'b 


"  Light  down,  light  down,  now,  true  Thomas, 
And  lean  your  head  upon  my  knee ; 

Abide  and  rest  a  little  space, 

And  I  will  shew  you  ferlies  three. 

1  That  weird,  etc. — that  destiny  shall  never  frighten  me. 

114 


THOMAS  THE  RHYMER 

"  O  see  ye  not  yon  narrow  road, 

So  thick  beset  with  thorns  and  briers  ? 

That  is  the  path  of  righteousness, 
Though  after  it  but  few  enquires. 

"  And  see  ye  not  that  braid  braid  road, 

That  lies  across  that  lily  leven  ? 
That  is  the  path  of  wickedness, 

Though  some  call  it  the  road  to  heaven. 

"  And  see  not  ye  that  bonny  road, 

That  winds  about  the  fernie  brae  ? 
That  is  the  road  to  fair  Elfland, 

Where  thou  and  I  this  night  maun  gae. 

"  But,  Thomas,  ye  maun  hold  your  tongue, 

Whatever  ye  may  hear  or  see  ; 
For,  if  you  speak  word  in  Elfyn  land, 

Yell  ne'er  get  back  to  your  ain  countrie.'" 

O  they  rade  on,  and  farther  on, 

And  they  waded  through  rivers  aboon  the  knee, 
And  they  saw  neither  sun  nor  moon, 

But  they  heard  the  roaring  of  the  sea. 

It  was  mirk  mirk  night,  and  there  was  nae  stern 
light, 
And   they  waded  through    red    blude   to   the 
knee ; 
For  a1  the  blude  that's  shed  on  earth 

Bins  through  the  springs  o''  that  countrie. 

115 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

Syne  they  came  on  to  a  garden  green, 
And  she  pu'd  an  apple  frae  a  tree — 

"  Take  this  for  thy  wages,  true  Thomas  ; 

It  will  give   thee    the    tongue  that  can  never 
lie." — 

"  My  tongue  is  mine  am,"  true  Thomas  said  ; 

"  A  gudely  gift  ye  wad  gie  to  me ! 
I  neither  dought  to  buy  nor  sell, 

At  fair  or  tryst  where  I  may  be. 

"  I  dought  neither  speak  to  prince  or  peer, 
Nor  ask  of  grace  from  fair  ladye." — 

"  Now  hold  thy  peace  ! ""  the  lady  said, 
"  For  as  I  say,  so  must  it  be." — 

He  has  gotten  a  coat  of  the  even  cloth, 
And  a  pair  of  shoes  of  velvet  green, 

And  till  seven  years  were  gane  and  past, 
True  Thomas  on  earth  was  never  seen. 


116 


THOMAS   THE    RHYMER 

Part  Second 

When  seven  years  were  come  and  gane, 
The  sun  blinked  fair  on  pool  and  stream, 

And  Thomas  lay  on  Huntlie  bank, 
Like  one  awaken'd  from  a  dream. 

He  heard  the  trampling  of  a  steed, 

He  saw  the  flash  of  armour  flee, 
And  he  beheld  a  gallant  knight 

Come  riding  down  by  the  Eildon-tree. 

He  was  a  stalwart  knight,  and  strong ; 

Of  giant  make  he  'pear'd  to  be : 
He  stirr'd  his  horse,  as  he  were  wode, 

Wi1  gilded  spurs,  of  faushion  free. 

Says — «  Well  met,  well  met,  true  Thomas  ! 

Some  uncouth  ferlies  show  to  me.11 — 
Says — "  Christ  thee  save,  Corspatrick  brave  ! 

Thrice  welcume,  good  Dunbar,  to  me  ! 

"  Light  down,  light  down,  Corspatrick  brave  ! 
And  I  will  show  thee  curses  three, 
117 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

Shall  gar  fair  Scotland  greet  and  grane, 

And  change  the  green  to  the  black  livery. 

"A  storm  shall  roar  this  very  hour, 
From  Ross's  Hills  to  Solway  sea." — 

"  Ye  lied,  ye  lied,  ye  warlock  hoar  ! 

For  the  sun  shines  sweet  on  fauld  and  lea." 

He  put  his  hand  on  the  Earlie's  head ; 

He  show'd  him  a  rock  beside  the  sea, 
Where  a  king  lay  stiff  beneath  his  steed,1 

And  steel-dight  nobles  wiped  their  ee. 


"  The  neist  curse  lights  on  Branxton  hills  : 
By  Flodden's  high  and  heathery  side, 

Shall  wave  a  banner  red  as  blude, 

And  chieftain's  throng  wf  meikle  pride. 

"  A  Scottish  King  shall  come  full  keen, 

The  ruddy  lion  beareth  he ; 
A  feather'd  arrow  sharp,  I  ween, 

Shall  make  him  wink  and  warre  to  see. 

"  When  he  is  bloody,  and  all  to  bledde, 
Thus  to  his  men  he  still  shall  say — 

'  For  God's  sake,  turn  ye  back  again, 
And  give  yon  southern  folk  a  fray  ! 

Why  should  I  lose,  the  right  is  mine  ? 
My  doom  is  not  to  die  this  day/ 

1  King   Alexander,    killed    by   a   fall   from   his   horse,    near 
Kinghorn. 

118 


THOMAS  THE  RHYMER 

"  Yet  turn  ye  to  the  eastern  hand, 

And  woe  and  wonder  ye  sail  see ; 
How  forty  thousand  spearmen  stand, 

Where  von  rank  river  meets  the  sea. 

"  There  shall  the  lion  lose  the  gylte, 
And  the  libbards  bear  it  clean  away  ; 

At  Pinkyn  Cleuch  there  shall  be  spilt 
Much  gentil  bluid  that  day." — 

'  Enough,  enough,  of  curse  and  ban ; 

Some  blessings  show  thou  now  to  me, 
Or,  by  the  faith  o1  my  bodie,"  Corspatrick  said, 

"  Ye  shall  rue  the  day  ye  e'er  saw  me  !  " — 


"  The  first  of  blessings  I  shall  thee  show 
Is  by  a  burn,  that's  call'd  of  bread ; 

Where  Saxon  men  shall  tine  the  bow, 
And  rind  their  arrows  lack  the  head. 


"  Beside  that  brigg,  out  ower  that  burn, 

Where  the  water  bickereth  bright  and  sheen, 

Shall  many  a  falling  courser  spurn, 
And  knights  shall  die  in  battle  keen. 

"  Beside  a  headless  cross  of  stone, 

The  libbards  there  shall  lose  the  gree ; 

The  raven  shall  come,  the  erne  shall  go, 
And  drink  the  Saxon  bluid  sae  free. 

The  cross  of  stone  they  shall  not  know, 
So  thick  the  corses  there  shall  be." — 
119 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

"  But  tell  me  now,"  said  brave  Dunbar, 

"  True  Thomas,  tell  now  unto  me, 
What  man  shall  rule  the  isle  Britain, 

Even  from  the  north  to  the  southern  sea  ?  " 

"  A  French  Queen  shall  bear  the  son, 

Shall  rule  all  Britain  to  the  sea ; 
He  of  the  Bruce's  blood  shall  come, 

As  near  as  in  the  ninth  degree. 

"  The  waters  worship  shall  his  race ; 

Likewise  the  waves  of  the  farthest  sea ; 
For  they  shall  ride  over  ocean  wide, 

With  hempen  bridles,  and  horse  of  tree.11 


1 20 


THOMAS  THE  RHYMER 

Part  Third 
(Btj  Sir   Walter  Scott) 

Whex  seven  years  more  were  come  and  gone, 
Was  war  through  Scotland  spread, 

And  Ruberslaw  showM  high  Dunyon 
His  beacon  blazing  red. 

Then  all  by  bonny  Coldingknow, 
Pitch'd  palliouns  took  their  room, 

And  crested  helms,  and  spears  a-rowe, 
Glanced  gaily  through  the  broom. 

The  Leader,  rolling  to  the  Tweed, 

Resounds  the  ensenzie  ; 1 
They  roused  the  deer  from  Caddenhead, 

To  distant  Torwoodlee. 

The  feast  was  spread  in  Ercildoune, 
In  Learmonfs  high  and  ancient  hall : 

And  there  were  knights  of  great  renown, 
And  ladies,  laced  in  pall. 

1  Ensenzie — war-cry,  or  gathering-word. 
121 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

Nor  lacked  they,  while  they  sat  at  dine, 

The  music  nor  the  tale, 
Nor  goblets  of  the  blood-red  wine, 

Nor  mantling  quaighs  l  of  ale. 


True  Thomas  rose,  with  harp  in  hand, 

When  as  the  feast  was  done : 
(In  minstrel  strife,  in  Fairy  Land, 

The  elfin  harp  he  won.) 

Hush'd  were  the  throng,  both  limb  and  tongue, 

And  harpers  for  envy  pale  ; 
And  armed  lords  lean'd  on  their  swords, 

And  hearkeu'd  to  the  tale. 

In  numbers  high,  the  witching  tale 

The  prophet  pourM  along  ; 
No  after  bard  might  e'er  avail 

Those  numbers  to  prolong. 

Yet  fragments  of  the  lofty  strain 

Float  down  the  tide  of  years, 
As,  buoyant  on  the  stormy  main, 

A  parted  wreck  appears. 

He  sung  Khi£  Arthur's  Table  Round : 

The  Warrior  of  the  Lake ; 
How  courteous  Gawaine  met  the  wound, 

And  bled  for  ladies"'  sake. 

1  Quaighs — wooden  cups,  composed  of  staves  hooped  together. 

122 


THOMAS  THE  RHYMER 

But  chief,  in  gentle  Tristram's  praise, 

The  notes  melodious  swell ; 
Was  none  excell'd  in  Arthur's  days, 

The  knight  of  Lionelle. 

For  Marke,  his  cowardly  uncle's  right, 

A  venom'd  wound  he  bore ; 
When  fierce  Morholde  he  slew  in  fight, 

Upon  the  Irish  shore. 

No  art  the  poison  might  withstand ; 

No  medicine  could  be  found, 
Till  lovely  Isolde's  lily  hand 

Had  probed  the  rankling  wound. 

With  gentle  hand  and  soothing  tongue 

She  bore  the  leech's  part ; 
And,  while  she  o'er  his  sick-bed  hung, 

He  paid  her  with  his  heart. 

O  fatal  was  the  gift,  I  ween  ! 

For,  doom'd  in  evil  tide, 
The  maid  must  be  rude  Cornwall's  queen, 

His  cowardly  uncle's  bride. 

Their  loves,  their  woes,  the  gifted  bard, 

In  fairy  tissue  wove  ; 
Where  lords,  and  knights,  and  ladies  bright, 

In  gay  confusion  strove. 
123 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

The  Garde  Joyeuso,  amid  the  tale, 
High  rear'd  its  glittering  head ; 

And  Avalon's  enchanted  vale 
In  all  its  wonders  spread. 

Brangwain  was  there,  and  Scgramore, 
And  fiend-born  Merlin's  gramarye ; 

Of  that  famed  wizard's  mighty  lore, 
O  who  could  sing  but  he  ? 

Through  many  a  maze  the  winning  song 

In  changeful  passion  led, 
Till  bent  at  length  the  listening  throng 

O'er  Tristrem's  dying  bed. 

His  ancient  wounds  their  scars  expand, 
With  agony  his  heart  is  wrung : 

0  where  is  Isolde's  lilye  hand, 
And  where  her  soothing  tongue  ? 

She  comes  !  she  comes  ! — like  flash  of  flame 

Can  lovers1  footsteps  fly  : 
She  comes  !  she  conies  ! — she  only  came 

To  see  her  Tristrem  die. 

She  saw  him  die ;  her  latest  sigh 
Jointl  in  a  kiss  his  parting  breath ; 

The  gentlest  pair,  that  Britain  bare, 
United  are  in  death. 
124 


THOMAS  THE  RHYMER 

There  paus'd  the  harp :  its  lingering  sound 

Died  slowly  on  the  ear ; 
The  silent  guests  still  bent  around, 

For  still  they  seem'd  to  hear. 

Then  woe  broke  forth  in  murmurs  weak  : 
Nor  ladies  heaved  alone  the  sigh  ; 

But,  half  ashamed,  the  rugged  cheek 
Did  many  a  gauntlet  dry. 

On  Leader's  stream,  and  Learmont's  tower, 

The  mists  of  evening  close  ; 
In  camp,  in  castle,  or  in  bower, 

Each  warrior  sought  repose. 

Lord  Douglas,  in  his  lofty  tent, 

Dream'd  o'er  the  woeful  tale  ; 
When  footsteps  light,  across  the  bent, 

The  warrior's  ear  assail. 

He  starts,  he  wakes—"  What,  Richard,  ho  ! 

Arise,  my  page,  arise  ! 
What  venturous  wight,  at  dead  of  night, 

Dare  step  where  Douglas  lies  ! " — 

Then  forth  they  rush'd  :  by  Leader's  tide, 

A  selcouth 1  sight  they  see — 
A  hart  and  hind  pace  side  by  side, 

As  white  as  snow  on  Fairnalie. 

1  Selcouth — wondrous. 
125 


MINSTRELSY  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER 

Beneath  the  moon,  with  gesture  proud, 

They  stately  move  and  slow  ; 
Nor  scare  they  at  the  gathering  crowd, 

Who  marvel  as  they  go. 

To  Learmonfs  tower  a  message  sped, 

As  fast  as  page  might  run  ; 
And  Thomas  started  from  his  bed, 

And  soon  his  clothes  did  on. 

First  he  woxe  pale,  and  then  woxe  red  ; 

Never  a  word  he  spake  but  three  ; — 
"  My  sand  is  run  ;  my  thread  is  spun  ; 

This  sign  regardeth  me." 

The  elfin  harp  his  neck  around, 

In  minstrel  guise,  he  hung ; 
And  on  the  wind,  in  doleful  sound, 

Its  dying  accents  rung. 

Then  forth  he  went ;  yet  turii'd  him  oft 

To  view  his  ancient  hall : 
On  the  grey  tower,  in  lustre  soft, 

The  autumn  moonbeams  fall ; 

And  Leader's  waves,  like  silver  sheen, 
Danced  shimmering  in  the  ray  ; 

In  deepening  mass,  at  distance  seen, 
Broad  Soltra's  mountains  lay. 
126 


THOMAS  THE  RHYMER 

"  Farewell,  my  father's  ancient  tower  ! 

A  long  farewell,"  said  he  : 
"  The  scene  of  pleasure,  pomp,  or  power, 

Thou  never  more  shalt  be. 

"  To  Learmont's  name  no  foot  of  earth 

Shall  here  again  belong, 
And,  on  thy  hospitable  hearth, 

The  hare  shall  leave  her  young. 

"  Adieu  !  adieu  !  "  again  he  cried, 

All  as  he  turned  him  roun1 — 
"  Farewell  to  Leader's  silver  tide  ! 

Farewell  to  Ercildoune  ! " 

The  hart  and  hind  approached  the  place, 

As  lingering  yet  he  stood  ; 
And  there,  before  Lord  Douglas1  face, 

With  them  he  cross'd  the  flood. 

Lord  Douglas  leap'd  on  his  berry-brown  steed, 
And  spurr'd  him  the  Leader  o'er ; 

But,  though  he  rode  with  lightning  speed, 
He  never  saw  them  more. 

Some  said  to  hill,  and  some  to  glen, 
Their  wondrous  course  had  been  ; 

But  ne'er  in  haunts  of  living  men 
Again  was  Thomas  seen. 


127 


ARMSTRONG'S  GOOD-NIGHT 

This  night  is  my  departing  night, 
For  here  nae  langer  must  I  stay  ; 

There's  neither  friend  nor  foe  o1  mine, 
But  wishes  me  away. 

What  I  have  done  thro1  lack  of  wit, 

I  never,  never  can  recall ; 
I  hope  ye're  a1  my  friends  as  yet ; 

Good-night  and  joy  be  with  you  all ! 

***** 


128 


APPENDIX 

The  following  ballads,  though  not  of  the  high 
poetic  rank  of  those  preceding,  have  a  beauty  that 
only  falls  short  of  the  very  highest. 

JELLON    GRAME 

O  Jellon  Grame  sat  in  Silverwood,1 
He  sharp'd  his  broadsword  lang ; 

And  he  has  call'd  his  little  foot-page 
An  errand  for  to  gang. 

"Win  up,  my  bonny  boy,"  he  says, 

"  As  quickly  as  ye  may  ; 
For  ye  maun  gang  for  Lillie  Flower 

Before  the  break  of  day." — 

The  boy  has  buckled  his  belt  about, 
And  through  the  green-wood  ran  ; 

And  he  came  to  the  ladye's  bower 
Before  the  day  did  dawn. 

"  O  sleep  ye,  wake  ye,  Lillie  Flower  ? 

The  red  sun's  on  the  rain : 
Ye' re  bidden  come  to  Silverwood, 

But  I  doubt  ye'll  never  win  hame." — 

1  "  Silverwood  gin  ye  were  mine." 
I  129 


APPENDIX 

She  hadna  ridden  a  mile,  a  mile, 

A  mile  but  barely  three, 
Ere  she  came  to  a  new-made  grave, 

Beneath  a  green  aik  tree. 

O  then  up  started  Jellon  Grame, 

Out  of  a  bush  thereby  ; 
"  Light  down,  light  down,  now,  Lillie  Flower, 

For  it's  here  that  ye  maun  lye." — 

She  lighted  aff  her  milk-white  steed, 

And  kneel'd  upon  her  knee  ; 
"  O  mercy,  mercy,  Jellon  Grame, 

For  I'm  no  prepared  to  die  ! 

"  Your  bairn,  that  stirs  between  my  sides, 

Maun  shortly  see  the  light : 
But  to  see  it  weltering  in  my  blood, 

Would  be  a  piteous  sight." — 

"  O  should  I  spare  your  life,"  he  says, 

"  Until  that  bairn  were  born, 
Full  weel  I  ken  your  auld  father 

Would  hang  me  on  the  morn." — 


*& 


"  O  spare  my  life,  now,  Jellon  Grame ! 

My  father  ye  needna  dread  : 
I'll  keep  my  babe  in  gude  green-wood, 

Or  wi'  it  I'll  beg  my  bread."  — 

He  took  no  pity  on  Lillie  Flower, 
Though  she  for  life  did  pray  ; 

But  pierced  her  through  the  fair  body 
As  at  his  feet  she  lay. 
130 


JELLON   GRAME 

He  felt  nae  pity  for  Lillie  Flower, 

Where  she  was  lying  dead  ; 
But  he  felt  some  for  the  bonny  bairn, 

That  lay  weltering  in  her  bluid. 

Up  has  he  ta'en  that  bonny  boy, 

Given  him  to  nurses  nine  ; 
Three  to  sleep,  and  three  to  wake, 

And  three  to  go  between. 

And  he  bred  up  that  bonny  boy, 

Call'd  him  his  sister's  son  ? 
And  he  thought  no  eye  could  ever  see 

The  deed  that  he  had  done. 

O  so  it  fell  upon  a  day, 

When  hunting  they  might  be, 

They  rested  them  in  Silverwood, 
Beneath  that  green  aik  tree. 

And  many  were  the  green-wood  flowers 

Upon  the  grave  that  grew, 
And  marvell'd  much  that  bonny  boy 

To  see  their  lovely  hue. 

"  What's  paler  than  the  prymrose  wan  ? 

What's  redder  than  the  rose  ? 
What's  fairer  than  the  lilye  flower 

On  this  wee  know  that  grows  ?  " — 

O  out  and  answer'd  Jellon  Grame, 

And  he  spak  hastilie — 
"  Your  mother  was  a  fairer  flower, 

And  lies  beneath  this  tree. 

131 


APPENDIX 

"  More  pale  she  was,  when  she  sought  my  grace, 

Than  prymrose  pale  and  wan  ; 
And  redder  than  rose  her  ruddy  heart's  blood, 

That  down  my  broadsword  ran." — 

Wi'  that  the  boy  has  bent  his  bow, 

It  was  baith  stout  and  lang ; 
And  thro'  and  thro'  him,  Jellon  Grame, 

He  gar'd  an  arrow  gang. 

Says — "  Lie  ye  there,  now,  Jellon  Grame  ! 

My  malisoun  gang  you  wi' ! 
The  place  that  my  mother  lies  buried  in 

Is  far  too  good  for  thee." 


132 


ROSE  THE  RED  AND  WHITE  LILLY 

O  Rose  the  Red,  and  White  Lilly, 

Their  mother  deir  was  dead  ; 
And  their  father  has  married  an  ill  woman, 

Wished  them  twa  little  guid. 

But  she  had  twa  as  gallant  sons 

As  ever  brake  man's  bread  ; 
And  the  tane  o'  them  lo'ed  her,  White  Lilly, 

And  the  t'other  Rose  the  Red. 

O  bigged  hae  they  a  bigly  bour, 

Fast  by  the  roaring  strand  ; 
And  there  was  rnair  mirth  in  the  ladyes'  bour, 

Nor  in  a'  their  father's  land. 


But  out  and  spak  their  step-mother, 
As  she  stood  a  little  forbye — 

"  I  hope  to  live  and  play  the  prank, 
Sail  gar  your  loud  sang  lie." 

She's  call'd  upon  her  eldest  son  ; 

"  Cum  here,  my  son,  to  me  : 
It  fears  me  sair,  my  Bauld  Arthur, 

That  ye  maun  sail  the  sea." — 

133 


APPENDIX 

"  Gin  sae  it  maun  be,  my  deir  mother, 

Your  bidding  I  maun  dee ; 
But  be  never  waur  to  Rose  the  Red 

Than  ye  hae  been  to  me." 

She's  call'd  upon  her  youngest  son  ; 

"  Cum  here,  my  son,  to  me  : 
It  fears  me  sair,  my  Brown  Robin, 

That  ye  maun  sail  the  sea." — 

"  Gin  it  fear  ye  sair,  my  mother  deir, 

Your  bidding  I  sail  dee ; 
But,  be  never  waur  to  White  Lilly, 

Than  ye  hae  been  to  me." — 

"  Now  haud  your  tongues,  ye  foolish  boys  ! 

For  small  sail  be  their  part : 
They  ne'er  again  sail  see  your  face, 

Gin  their  very  hearts  suld  break." 

Sae  Bauld  Arthur's  gane  to  our  King's  court, 

His  hie  chamberlain  to  be ; 
But  Brown  Robin,  he  has  slain  a  knight, 

And  to  grene-wood  he  did  flee. 

When  Rose  the  Red  and  White  Lilly 

Saw  their  twa  loves  were  gane, 
Sune  did  they  drop  the  loud,  loud  sang, 

Took  up  the  still  mourning. 

And  out  then  spake  her  White  Lilly  ; 

"  My  sister,  we'll  be  gane  : 
Why  suld  we  stay  in  Barnisdale, 

To  mourn  our  bour  within  ?  " 

134 


ROSE  THE  RED  AND  WHITE  LILLY 

O  cutted  hae  they  their  green  cloathing, 

A  little  abune  their  knee  ; 
And  sae  hae  they  their  yellow  hair, 

A  little  abune  their  bree. 

And  left  hae  they  that  bonny  bour, 

To  cross  the  raging  sea  ; 
And  they  hae  ta'en  to  a  holy  chapel, 

Was  christened  by  Our  Ladye. 

And  they  hae  changed  their  twa  names, 

Sae  far  frae  ony  toun ; 
And  the  tane  o'  them's  hight  Sweet  Willie, 

And  the  t' other's  Rouge  the  Rounde. 


*»v 


Between  the  twa  a  promise  is, 
And  they  hae  sworn  it  to  fulfil ; 

Whenever  the  tane  blew  a  bugle-horn, 
The  t'other  suld  cum  her  till. 

Sweet  Willy's  gane  to  the  King's  court, 

Her  true  love  for  to  see  ; 
And  Rouge  the  Rounde  to  gude  grene-wood, 

Brown  Robin's  man  to  be. 

O  it  fell  anes,  upon  a  tyme, 

They  putted  at  the  stane  ; 
And  seven  foot  ayont  them  a', 

Brown  Robin's  gar'd  it  gang. 

She  lifted  the  heavy  putting-stane, 

And  gave  a  sad  "  O  hon  !  " 
Then  out  bespake  him,  Brown  Robin 

"  But  that's  a  woman's  moan  !  " — 

135 


APPENDIX 

"  ()  kcut  ye  by  my  rosy  lips  ? 

Or  by  my  yellow  hair  ? 
Or  kent  ye  by  my  milk-white  breast, 

Ye  never  yet  saw  bare  ?  " — 

"  I  kent  na  by  your  rosy  lips, 

Nor  by  your  yellow  hair  ; 
But,  cum  to  your  hour  whaever  likes 

They'll  find  a  ladye  there." — 


"  O  gin  ye  cum  my  bour  within, 

Through  fraud,  deceit,  or  guile  ; 
Wi'  this  same  brand,  that's  in  my  hand, 

I  vow  I  will  thee  kill." — 

"  Yet  durst  I  cum  into  your  bour, 

And  ask  nae  leave,"  quo'  he  ; 
"  And  wi'  this  same  brand,  that's  in  my  hand, 

Wave  danger  back  on  thee." 

About  the  dead  hour  o'  the  night, 

The  ladye's  bour  was  broken  ; 
And,  about  the  first  hour  of  the  day, 

The  fair  knave  bairn  was  gotten. 

When  days  were  gane  and  months  were  come, 

The  ladye  was  sad  and  wan  ; 
And  aye  she  cried  for  a  bour  woman, 

For  to  wait  her  upon. 

Then  up  and  spake  him,  Brown  Robin, 
"  And  what  needs  this  ?  "  quo'  he  ; 

"  Or  what  can  woman  do  for  you, 
That  canna  be  done  by  me  ?  " — 
136 


ROSE  THE  RED  AND  WHITE  LILLY 

"  'Twas  never  my  mother's  fashion/'  she  said, 

"  Nor  shall  it  e'er  be  mine, 
That  belted  knights  should  e'er  remain 

While  ladyes  dree'd  their  pain. 

"  But  gin  ye  take  that  bugle-horn, 

And  wind  a  blast  sae  shrill, 
I  hae  a  brother  in  yonder  court 

Will  come  me  quickly  till." — 

"  O  gin  ye  hae  a  brother  on  earth, 

That  ye  lo'e  mair  than  me, 
Ye  may  blow  the  horn  yoursell,"  he  says, 

"  For  a  blast  I  winna  gie." 

She's  ta'en  the  bugle  in  her  hand, 
And  blawn  baith  loud  and  shrill ; 

Sweet  William  started  at  the  sound, 
And  came  her  quickly  till. 

O  up  and  starts  him,  Brown  Robin, 

And  swore  by  Our  Ladye, 
"  No  man  shall  come  into  this  bour, 

But  first  maun  fight  wi'  me." 


'a* 


O  they  hae  fought  the  Avood  within, 
Till  the  sun  was  going  down  : 

And  drops  o'  blood,  frae  Rose  the  Red, 
Came  pouring  to  the  ground. 

She  leant  her  back  against  an  aik, 

Said — "  Robin,  let  me  be  ; 
For  it  is  a  ladye,  bred  and  born, 

That  has  fought  this  day  wi'  thee." 

137 


APPENDIX 

O  seven  foot  he  started  back, 

Cried — "  Alas  and  woe  is  me  ! 
For  I  wished  never,  in  all  my  life, 

A  woman's  bluid  to  see  : 

"  And  that  all  for  the  knightly  vow 

I  swore  to  Our  Ladye  : 
But  mair  for  the  sake  o'  ae  fair  maid, 

Whose  name  was  White  Lilly." 

Then  out  and  spake  her,  Rouge  the  Rounde, 

And  leugh  right  hertilie, 
"  She  has  been  wi'  ye  this  year  and  mair, 

Though  ye  wistna  it  was  she." 

Now  word  is  gane  through  all  the  land, 

Before  a  month  was  gane, 
That  a  forester's  page,  in  gude  grene-wood, 

Had  born  a  bonny  son. 

The  marvel  gaed  to  the  King's  court, 

And  to  the  King  himsell ; 
"  Now,  by  my  fae,"  the  King  did  say, 

"  The  like  was  never  heard  tell !  " 

Then  out  and  spake  him,  Bauld  Arthur, 
And  laugh'd  right  loud  and  hie — 

"  I  trow  some  may  has  plaid  the  lown, 
And  fled  her  ain  countrie." — 

"  Bring  me  my  steid  !  "  the  King  can  say  ; 

"  My  bow  and  arrows  keen ; 
And  I'll  gae  hunt  in  yonder  wood, 

And  see  what's  to  be  seen." — 
138 


ROSE  THE  RED  AND  WHITE  LILLY 

"  Gin  it  please  your  grace/'  quo'  Bauld  Arthur, 

"  My  liege,  I'll  gang  you  wi', 
And  see  gin  I  can  meet  a  bonny  page, 

That's  stray'd  awa  frae  me." 

And  they  hae  chased  in  gude  grene-wood, 

The  buck  but  and  the  rae, 
Till  they  drew  near  Brown  Robin's  bour, 

About  the  close  o'  day. 

Then  out  an'  spake  the  King  himsell, 

Says — "  Arthur,  look  and  see, 
Gin  yon  be  not  your  favourite  page, 

That  leans  against  yon  tree." 

O  Arthur's  ta'en  a  bugle-hom, 

And  blawn  a  blast  sae  shrill ; 
Sweet  Willie  started  to  her  feet, 

And  ran  him  quickly  till. 

"  O  wanted  ye  your  meat,  Willie, 

Or  wanted  ye  your  fee  ? 
Or  gat  ye  e'er  an  angry  word, 

That  ye  ran  awa  frae  me  ?  " — 

"  I  wanted  nought,  my  master  dear  ; 

To  me  ye  aye  was  good  : 
I  cam  to  see  my  ae  brother, 

That  wons  in  this  grene-wood." 

Then  out  bespake  the  King  again, — 

"  My  boy,  now  tell  to  me, 
Who  dwells  into  yon  bigly  bour, 

Beneath  yon  green  aik  tree  ?  " — 

139 


APPENDIX 

"O  pardon  me,"  said  Sweet  Willy, 

"  My  liege,  I  darena  tell  ; 
And  gangna  near  yon  Outlaw's  bour, 

For  fear  they  suld  you  kill." — 

"  O  haud  your  tongue,  my  bonny  boy  ! 

For  I  winna  be  said  nay  ; 
But  I  will  gang  yon  bour  within, 

Betide  me  weal  or  wae." 

They  have  lighted  frae  their  milk-white  steids, 

And  saftlie  entered  in  ; 
And  there  they  saw  her,  White  Lilly, 

Nursing  her  bonny  young  son. 

"  Now,  by  the  mass,"  the  King  he  said, 

"  This  is  a  comely  sight ; 
I  trow,  instead  of  a  forester's  man, 

This  is  a  ladye  bright !  " 

O  out  and  spake  her,  Rose  the  Red, 

And  fell  low  on  her  knee : — 
"  O  pardon  us,  my  gracious  liege, 

And  our  story  I'll  tell  thee. 

"  Our  father  is  a  wealthy  lord, 

Lives  into  Barnisdale  ; 
But  we  had  a  wicked  step-inother, 

That  wrought  us  meikle  bale. 

"  Yet  had  she  twa  as  fu'  fair  sons, 

As  e'er  the  sun  did  see ; 
And  the  tane  o'  them  lo'ed  my  sister  deir, 

And  the  t'other  said  he  lo'ed  me." — 
140 


ROSE  THE  RED  AND  WHITE  LILLY 

Then  out  and  cried  him,  Bauld  Arthur, 

As  by  the  King  he  stood, — 
"  Now,  by  the  faith  of  my  body, 

This  suld  be  Rose  the  Red  !  " 

The  King  has  sent  for  robes  o'  green, 

And  girdles  o'  shining  gold  ; 
And  sae  sune  have  the  ladyes  busked  themselves 

Sae  glorious  to  behold. 

Then  in  and  came  him,  Brown  Robin, 

Frae  hunting  o'  the  King's  deer, 
But  when  he  saw  the  King  himsell, 

He  started  back  for  fear. 

The  King  has  ta'en  Robin  by  the  hand, 

And  bade  him  nothing  dread, 
But  quit  for  aye  the  gude  grene-wood, 

And  come  to  the  court  wi'  speed. 

The  King  has  ta'en  White  Lilly's  son, 

And  set  him  on  his  knee ; 
Says — "  Gin  ye  live  to  wield  a  brand, 

My  bowman  thou  sail  be." 

Then  they  have  ta'en  them  to  the  holy  chapelle, 

And  there  had  fair  wedding  ; 
And  when  they  cam  to  the  King's  court, 

For  joy  the  bells  did  ring. 


141 


O  GIN  MY  LOVE  WERE  YON  RED  ROSE 

FROM    MR.     HERD'S    MS. 

O  gin  my  love  were  yon  red  rose, 
That  grows  upon  the  castle  wa', 
And  I  mysell  a  drap  of  dew, 

Down  on  that  red  rose  I  would  fa', 

O  my  love's  bonny,  bonny,  bonny  ; 
My  love's  bonny,  and  fair  to  see  ; 
Whene'er  I  look  on  her  weel-faur'd  face, 
She  looks  and  smiles  again  to  me. 

O  gin  my  love  were  a  pickle  of  wheat, 

And  growing  upon  yon  lily  lee, 
And  I  mysell  a  bonny  wee  bird, 

Awa'  wi'  that  pickle  o'  wheat  I  wad  flee. 
O  my  love's  bonny,  etc. 

0  gin  my  love  were  a  coffer  o'  gowd, 
And  I  the  keeper  of  the  key, 

1  wad  open  the  kist  whene'er  I  list, 

And  in  that  coffer  I  wad  be. 

O  my  love's  bonny,  etc. 


142 


ANNAN  WATER 

"  Annan  Water's  wading  deep, 

And  my  love  Annie's  wondrous  bonny  ; 

And  I  am  laith  she  suld  weet  her  feet, 
Because  I  love  her  best  of  ony. 

"  Gar  saddle  me  the  bonny  black, 

Gar  saddle  sune,  and  make  him  ready ; 

For  I  will  down  the  Gatehope-Slack, 
And  all  to  see  my  bonny  ladye." — 

He  has  loupen  on  the  bonny  black, 

He  stirr'd  him  wi'  the  spur  right  sairly ; 

But,  or  he  wan  the  Gatehope-Slack, 
I  think  the  steed  was  wae  and  weary. 

He  has  loupen  on  the  bonny  grey, 

He  rade  the  right  gate  and  the  ready ; 

I  trow  he  would  neither  stint  nor  stay, 
For  he  was  seeking  his  bonny  ladye. 

O  he  has  ridden  o'er  field  and  fell, 

Through  muir  and  moss,  and  mony  a  mire 

His  spurs  o'  steel  were  sair  to  bide, 
And  frae  her  fore-feet  flew  the  fire. 

143 


APPENDIX 

"  Now,  bonny  grey,  now  play  your  part ! 

Gin  ye  be  the  steed  that  wins  my  deary, 
Wi'  corn  and  hay  ye'se  be  fed  for  aye, 

And  never  spur  sail  make  you  wearie." — 

The  grey  was  a  mare,  and  a  right  good  mare ; 

But  when  she  wan  the  Annan  Water, 
She  couldna  hae  ridden  a  furlong  mair, 

Had  a  thousand  merks  been  wadded  l  at  her. 


"  O  boatman,  boatman,  put  off  your  boat 
Put  off  your  boat  for  gowden  money  ! 

I  cross  the  drumly  stream  the  night, 
Or  never  mair  I  see  my  honey." — 

"01  was  sworn  sae  late  yestreen, 
And  not  by  ae  aith,  but  by  many  ; 

And  for  a'  the  gowd  in  fair  Scotland, 
I  dare  na  take  ye  through  to  Annie.  "- 


The  side  was  stey,  and  the  bottom  deep, 
Frae  bank  to  brae  the  water  pouring  ; 

And  the  bonny  grey  mare  did  swieat  for  fear, 
For  she  heard  the  water-kelpy  roaring. 

O  he  has  pou'd  aff  his  dapperpy  coat, 
The  silver  buttons  glanced  bonny  ; 

The  waistcoat  bursted  aff  his  breast, 
He  was  sae  full  of  melancholy. 

1  Wadded—  Wagered. 
144 


ANNAN  WATER 

He  has  ta'en  the  ford  at  that  stream  tail ; 

I  wot  he  swam  both  strong  and  steady, 
But  the  stream  was  broad,  and  his  strength  did  fail, 

And  he  never  saw  his  bonny  ladye ! 

O  wae  betide  the  frush  saugh  wand ! 

And  wae  betide  the  bush  of  brier, 
It  brake  into  my  true  love's  hand, 

When  his  strength  did  fail,  and  his  limbs  did  tire. 

"  And  wae  betide  ye,  Annan  Water, 
This  night  that  ye  are  a  drumlie  river ! 

For  over  thee  I'll  build  a  bridge, 

That  ye  never  more  true  love  may  sever." 


K  145 


THE  DOWIE  DENS  OF  YARROW  i 

Late  at  e'en,  drinking  the  wine, 

And  ere  they  paid  the  lawing, 
They  set  a  combat  them  between, 

To  fight  it  in  the  dawing. 

"  O  stay  at  hame,  my  noble  lord, 

O  stay  at  hame,  my  marrow ! 
My  cruel  brother  will  you  betray 

On  the  dowie  houms  of  Yarrow." — 

"  O  fare  ye  weel,  my  ladye  gaye ! 

O  fare  ye  weel,  my  Sarah  ! 
For  I  maun  gae,  though  I  ne'er  return 

Frae  the  dowie  banks  o'  Yarrow." 

She  kiss'd  his  cheek,  she  kaim'd  his  hair, 
As  oft  she  had  done  before,  O ; 

She  belted  him  with  his  noble  brand, 
And  he's  away  to  Yarrow. 

1  [Dowie  means  melancholy. 

' '  Meek  loveliness  is  round  thee  spread, 

A  softness  still  and  holy — 
The  grace  of  forest  charms  decayed, 
And  pastoral  melancholy." 

—  Yarrow  Visited.] 

146 


THE  DOWIE  DENS  OF  YARROW 

As  he  gaed  up  the  Tennies  bank, 

I  wot  he  gaed  wi'  sorrow, 
Till,  down  in  a  den,  he  spied  nine  arm'd  men, 

On  the  dowie  houms  of  Yarrow. 

"  O  come  ye  here  to  part  your  land, 

The  bonnie  Forest  thorough  ? 
Or  come  ye  here  to  wield  your  brand, 

On  the  dowie  houms  of  Yarrow  ?  " — 

"  I  come  not  here  to  part  my  land, 
And  neither  to  beg  nor  borrow  ; 

I  come  to  wield  my  noble  brand, 
On  the  bonnie  banks  of  Yarrow. 

"  If  I  see  all,  ye're  nine  to  ane ; 

And  that's  an  unequal  marrow  ; 
Yet  will  I  fight,  while  lasts  my  brand, 

On  the  bonnie  banks  of  Yarrow." 

Four  has  he  hurt,  and  five  has  slain, 

On  the  bloody  braes  of  Yarrow, 
Till  that  stubborn  knight  came  him  behind, 

And  ran  his  body  thorough. 

"  Gae  hame,  gae  hame,  good-brother  John, 

And  tell  your  sister  Sarah, 
To  come  and  lift  her  leafu'  lord  ; 

He's  sleepin'  sound  on  Yarrow." — 

"  Yestreen  I  dream'd  a  dolefu'  dream  ; 

I  fear  there  will  be  sorrow  ! 
I  dream'd  I  pu'd  the  heather  green, 

Wi'  my  true  love  on  Yarrow. 

147 


APPENDIX 

"  O  gentle  wind,  that  bloweth  south, 

From  where  my  love  repaireth, 
Convey  a  kiss  from  his  dear  mouth, 

And  tell  me  how  he  fareth  ! 

"  But  in  the  glen  strive  armed  men  ; 

Thy've  wrought  me  dool  and  sorrow  ; 
They've    slain — the    comeliest    knight    they've 
slain — 

He  bleeding  lies  on  Yarrow." 

As  she  sped  down  yon  high,  high  hill, 

She  gaed  wi'  dool  and  sorrow, 
And  in  the  den  spied  ten  slain  men, 

On  the  dowie  banks  of  Yarrow. 

She  kissed  his  cheek,  she  kaim'd  his  hair, 
She  searched  his  wounds  all  thorough, 

She  kiss'd  them,  till  her  lips  grew  red, 
On  the  dowie  houms  of  Yarrow. 

"  Now  haud  your  tongue,  my  daughter  dear, 

For  a'  this  breeds  but  sorrow  : 
I'll  wed  ye  to  a  better  lord, 

Than  him  ye  lost  on  Yarrow." 

"  O  haud  your  tongue,  my  father  dear  ! 

Ye  mind  me  but  of  sorrow  ; 
A  fairer  rose  did  never  bloom 

Than  now  lies  cropp'd  on  Yarrow." 


148 


ARCHIE  OF  CA'FIELD 

As  I  was  a-walking  mine  alane, 
It  was  by  the  dawning  of  the  day, 

I  heard  twa  brithers  make  their  mane, 
And  I  listen'd  weel  to  what  they  did  say. 

The  youngest  to  the  eldest  said, 

"  Blythe  and  merrie  how  can  we  be  ? 

There  were  three  brithren  of  us  bom, 
And  ane  of  us  is  condemn'd  to  die." — 

"  An  ye  wad  be  merrie,  and  ye  wad  be  sad, 
What  the  better  wad  billy  Archie  be  ? 

Unless  I  had  thirty  men  to  mysell, 
And  a'  to  ride  in  my  companie. 

«  Ten  to  hald  the  horses'  heads, 
And  other  ten  the  watch  to  be, 

And  ten  to  break  up  the  strong  prison, 
Where  billy  Archie  he  does  lie." — 

Then  up  and  spak  him  mettled  John  Hall, 
(The  luve  of  Teviotdale  aye  was  he), 

"  An  I  had  eleven  men  to  mysell, 
It's  aye  the  twalt  man  I  wad  be." — 
149 


APPENDIX 

Then  up  bespak  him  coarse  Ga'field, 
(I  wot  and  little  gude  worth  was  he), 

"  Thirty  men  is  few  anew, 

And  a'  to  ride  in  our  companie." — 

There  was  horsing,  horsing  in  haste, 
And  there  was  marching  on  the  lee  ; 

Until  they  cam  to  Murray whate, 

And  they  lighted  there  right  speedilie. 

"  A  smith  !  a  smith  !  "  Dickie  he  cries, 
"  A  smith,  a  smith,  right  speedilie, 

To  turn  back  the  caukers  of  our  horses'  shoon  ! 
For  it's  unkensome  we  wad  be." — 

There  lives  a  smith  on  the  water-side, 
Will  shoe  my  little  black  mare  for  me ; 

And  I've  a  crown  in  my  pocket, 

And  every  groat  of  it  I  wad  gie." — 

"  The  night  is  mirk,  and  it's  very  mirk, 
And  by  candle-light  I  canna  weel  see  ; 

The  night  is  mirk,  and  it's  very  pit  mirk, 

And  there  will  never  a  nail  ca'  right  for  me."- 

"  Shame  fa'  you  and  your  trade  baith, 

Canna  beet  a  good  fellow  by  your  mystery  ; l 

But  leeze  me  on  thee,  my  little  black  mare, 
Thou's  worth  thy  weight  in  gold  to  me." — 

There  was  horsing,  horsing  in  haste, 
And  there  was  marching  upon  the  lee  ; 

1  Mystery — Trade.     See  Shakespeare. 
150 


ARCHIE  OF  CA'FIELD 

Until  they  cam  to  Dumfries  port, 

And  they  lighted  there  right  speedilie. 

"There's  five  of  us  will  hold  the  horse, 

And  other  five  will  watchmen  be  : 
But  wha's  the  man  among  ye  a', 

Will  gae  to  the  Tolbooth  door  wi'  me  ?  " — 

O  up  then  spak  him  mettled  John  Hall, 

(Frae  the  Laigh  Teviotdale  was  he), 
"  If  it  should  cost  my  life  this  very  night, 

I'll  gae  to  the  Tolbooth  door  wi'  thee." — 

"  Be  of  gude  cheir,  now,  Archie,  lad  ! 

Be  of  gude  cheir,  now,  dear  billy  ! 
Work  thou  within,  and  we  without, 

And  the  morn  thou'se  dine  at  Ca'field  wi'  me." — 

0  Jockie  Hall  stepp'd  to  the  door, 
And  he  bended  low  back  his  knee, 

And  he  made  the  bolts,  the  door  hang  on, 
Loup  frae  the  wa'  right  wantonlie. 

He  took  the  prisoner  on  his  back, 

And  down  the  Tolbooth  stair  cam  he  : 

The  black  mare  stood  ready  at  the  door, 
I  wot  a  foot  ne'er  stirred  she. 

They  laid  the  links  out  owre  her  neck, 
And  that  was  her  gold  twist  to  be  ; 1 

And  they  cam  doun  thro'  Dumfries  toun, 
And  wow  but  they  cam  speedilie. 

1  The  Gold  Twist  means  the  small  gilded  chains  drawn  across 
the  chest  of  a  war-horse,  as  a  part  of  his  caparison. 

151 


APPENDIX 

The  live-Ling  night  these  twelve  men  rade, 
And  aye  till  they  were  right  wearie, 

Until  they  cam  to  the  Murray  whate, 
And  they  lighted  there  right  speedilie. 

"A  smith  !  a  smith  !  "  then  Dickie  he  cries, 
"  A  smith,  a  smith,  right  speedilie. 

To  file  the  irons  frae  my  dear  brither! 
For  forward,  forward  we  wad  be." — 

They  hadna  filed  a  shackle  of  iron, 
A  shackle  of  iron  but  barely  thrie. 

When  out  and  spak  young  Simon  brave, 
"  O  dinna  you  see  what  I  do  see  ? 

"  Lo  !  yonder  comes  Lieutenant  Gordon, 
Wi'  a  hundred  men  in  his  companie  ; 

This  night  will  be  our  lyke-wake  night, 
The  morn  the  day  we  a'  maun  die." — 

O  there  was  mounting,  mounting  in  haste, 
And  there  was  marching  upon  the  lee  ; 

Until  they  cam  to  Annan  Water, 
And  it  was  flowing  like  the  sea. 

"  My  mare  is  young  and  very  skeigh, 
And  in  o'  the  weil  she  will  drown  me ; 

But  ye'll  take  mine,  and  I'll  take  thine, 
And  sune  through  the  water  we  sail  be." — 


*s>* 


Then  up  and  spak  him  coarse  Ca'field, 
(I  wot  and  little  gude  worth  was  he), 

"  We  had  better  lose  ane  than  lose  a'  the  lave ; 
We'll  lose  the  prisoner,  we'll  gae  free."- — 

152 


ARCHIE  OF  CA'FIELD 

"  Shame  fa'  you  and  your  lands  baith  ! 

Wad  ye  e'en  your  lands  to  your  born  billy  ? 
But  hey  !  bear  up,  my  bonnie  black  mare, 

And  yet  thro'  the  water  we  sail  be." 

Now  they  did  swim  that  wan  water, 
And  wow  but  they  swam  bonnilie  ! 

Until  they  cam  to  the  other  side, 

And  they  wrang  their  cloathes  right  drunkily. 

"  Come  thro',  come  thro',  Lieutenant  Gordon ! 

Come  thro'  and  drink  some  wine  wi'  me ! 
For  there  is  an  ale-house  here  hard  by, 

And  it  shall  not  cost  thee  ae  penny." — 

"  Throw  me  my  irons,"  quo'  Lieutenant  Gordon  ; 

"  I  wot  they  cost  me  dear  enough." — 
"The  shame  a  ma,"  quo'  mettled  John  Ha', 

"They'll  be  gude  shackles  to  my  pleugh." — 

"  Come  thro',  come  thro',  Lieutenant  Gordon  ! 

Come  thro'  and  drink  some  wine  wi'  me 
Yestreen  I  was  your  prisoner, 

But  now  this  morning  am  I  free." 


153 


JOCK   O'   THE   SIDE 

Now  Liddesdale  has  ridden  a  raid, 

But  I  wat  they  had  better  hae  staid  at  hame ; 
For  Michael  o'  Winfield  he  is  dead, 

And  Jock  o'  the  Side  is  prisoner  ta'en. 

For  Mangerton  house  Lady  Downie  has  gane, 
Her  coats  she  has  kilted  up  to  her  knee ; 

And  down  the  water  wi'  speed  she  rins, 
While  tears  in  spaits  fa'  fast  frae  her  ee. 

Then  up  and  spoke  her  gude  auld  lord — 

"  What  news,  what  news,  sister  Downie,  to  me? " — 

"  Bad  news,  bad  news,  my  Lord  Mangerton  ; 

Michael    is    killed,   and    they   hae    ta'en    my  son 
Johnie." 

— "  Ne'er  fear,  sister  Downie,"  quo'  Mangerton  ; 

"  I  have  yokes  of  ousen,  eighty  and  three  ; 
My  barns,  my  byres,  and  my  faulds,  a'  weil  fill'd, 

I'll  part  wi'  them  a'  ere  Johnie  shall  die. 

"Three  men  I'll  send  to  set  him  free, 

A'  harneist  wi'  the  best  o'  steil ; 
The  English  louns  may  hear  and  drie 

The  weight  o'  their  braid-swords  to  feel. 

154 


JOCK  O'  THE  SIDE 

"  The  Laird's  Jock  ane,  the  Laird's  Wat  twa, 

O  Hobbie  Noble,  thou  ane  maun  be ! 
Thy  coat  is  blue,  thou  hast  been  true, 

Since  England  banished  thee,  to  me." — 

Now  Hobbie  was  an  English  man, 

In  Bewcastle-dale  was  bred  and  born  ; 

But  his  misdeeds  they  were  sae  great, 
They  banished  him  ne'er  to  return. 

Lord  Mangerton  them  orders  gave, 

"  Your  horses  the  wrong  way  maun  be  shod, 

Like  gentlemen  ye  mauna  seem, 

But  look  like  corn-caugers  1  ga'en  the  road. 

"  Your  armour  gude  ye  mauna  shaw, 

Nor  yet  appear  like  men  o'  weir  ; 
As  country  lads  be  a'  array' d, 

Wi'  branks  and  brecham  2  on  each  mare." — 

Sae  now  their  horses  are  the  wrong  way  shod, 
And  Hobbie  has  mounted  his  grey  sae  fine ; 

Jock  his  lively  bay,  Wat's  on  his  white  hoi'se  behind, 
And  on  they  rode  for  the  water  of  Tyne. 

At  the  Cholerford  they  a'  light  down, 

And  there,  wi'  the  help  of  the  light  o'  the  moon 

A  tree  they  cut,  wi'  fifteen  nogs  on  each  side, 
To  climb  up  the  wa'  of  Newcastle  toun. 

1  Cangers — Carriers. 

2  Branks  and  Brecham — Halter  and  cart-collar. 

155 


APPENDIX 

Hut  when  they  cam  to  Newcastle  toun, 

And  were  alighted  at  the  wa', 
They  laud  I  hair  tree  three  ells  ower  laigh, 

They  fend  their  stick  baith  short  and  sma'. 

Then  up  spake  the  Laird's  ain  Jock ; 

"  There's    naething    for't ;    the    gates  we    maun 
force.'' — 
But  when  they  cam  the  gate  until, 

A  proud  porter  withstood  baith  men  and  horse. 

His  neck  in  twa  the  Armstrangs  wrang ; 

Wi'  fute  or  hand  he  ne'er  play'd  pa ! 
His  life  and  his  keys  at  anes  they  hae  ta'en, 

And  cast  the  body  ahint  the  wa'. 

Now  sune  they  reach  Newcastle  jail, 

And  to  the  prisoner  thus  they  call  ; 
"  Sleeps  thou,  wakes  thou,  Jock  o'  the  Side, 

Or  art  thou  weary  of  thy  thrall  ?  " 

Jock  answers  thus,  wi'  dolefu'  tone ; 

"  Aft,  aft  I  wake — I  seldom  sleep  : 
But  whae's  this  kens  my  name  sae  weel, 

And  thus  to  mese1  my  waes  does  seek?  " — 

Then  out  and  spak  the  gude  Laird's  Jock, 
"  Now  fear  ye  na,  my  billy,"  quo'  he ; 

"  For  here  are  the  Laird's  Jock,  the  Laird's  Wat, 
And  Hobbie  Noble,  come  to  set  thee  free." — 

"  Now  haud  thy  tongue,  my  gude  Laird's  Jock, 
For  ever,  alas  !  this  canna  be  ; 

1  Mese — Soothe. 
I56 


JOCK  O'  THE  SIDE 

For  if  a'  Liddesdale  were  here  the  night, 
The  morn's  the  day  that  I  maun  die. 

"  Full  fifteen  stane  o'  Spanish  iron, 
They  hae  laid  a'  right  sair  on  me ; 

Wi'  locks  and  keys  I  am  fast  bound 
Into  this  dungeon  dark  and  dreirie." — 

"  Fear  ye  na  that,"  quo'  the  Laird's  Jock  ; 

"  A  faint  heart  ne'er  wan  a  fair  ladie  ; 
Work  thou  within,  we'll  work  without, 

And  I'll  be  sworn  we'll  set  thee  free." — 

The  first  strong  door  that  they  cam  at, 

They  loosed  it  without  a  key  ; 
The  next  chain'd  door  that  they  cam  at, 

They  garr'd  it  a'  to  flinders  flee. 

The  prisoner  now  upon  his  back 

The  Laird's  Jock  has  gotten  up  fu'  hie ; 

And  down  the  stairs,  him,  aims  and  a', 
Wi'  nae  sma'  speed  and  joy  brings  he. 

"Now,  Jock,  my  man,"  quo'  Hobbie  Noble, 
"  Some  o'  his  weight  ye  may  lay  on  me." — 

"  I  wat  weel  no  !  "  quo'  the  Laird's  ain  Jock, 
"  I  count  him  lighter  than  a  flee." — 


*»* 


Sae  out  at  the  gates  they  a'  are  gane, 
The  prisoner's  set  on  horseback  hie  ; 

And  now  wi'  speed  they've  ta'en  the  gate 
While  ilk  ain  jokes  fu'  wantonlie  : 

157 


APPENDIX 

"  O  Jock  !  sae  winsomely  ye  ride, 

Wi'  baith  your  feet  upon  ae  side ; 
Sae  weel  ye're  harneist,  and  sae  trig, 

In  troth  ye  sit  like  ony  bride !  " — 

Tlie  night,  tho'  Avat,  they  did  na  mind, 

But  hied  tliem  on  fu'  merrilie, 
Until  they  cam  to  Cholertbrd  brae, 

Where  the  water  ran  like  mountains  hie. 

But  when  they  came  to  Cholerford, 
There  they  met  with  an  auld  man  ; 

Says — "  Honest  man,  will  the  water  ride  ? 
Tell  us  in  haste  if  that  ye  can." — 

"  I  wat  weel  no,"  quo'  the  gude  auld  man  ; 

"  I  hae  lived  here  thretty  years  and  three, 
And  I  ne'er  saw  the  Tyne  sae  big, 

Nor  running  anes  sae  like  a  sea." — 

Then[out  and  spoke  the  Laird's  saft  Wat, 
The  greatest  coward  in  the  companie, 

"  Now  halt,  now  halt !  Ave  need  na  try't 
The  day  is  come  Ave  a'  maun  die  !  " — 

"  Puir  faint-hearted  thief!"  cried  the  Laird's ain 
Jock, 

"  There'll  nae  man  die  but  him  that's  fie  ; * 
I'll  guide  ye  a'  right  safely  thro' ; 

Lift  ye  the  pris'ner  on  ahint  me." — 

1  Fie — Predestined. 
I58 


JOCK  O'  THE  SIDE 

Wi'  that  the  water  they  hae  ta'en, 

By  ane's  and  twa's  they  a'  swam  thro'  ; 

"  Here  are  we  a'  safe/'  quo'  the  Laird's  Jock, 
"  And,  puir  faint  Wat,  Avhat  think  ye  now  ?  " — 

They  scarce  the  other  brae  had  won, 

When  twenty  men  they  saw  pursue  ; 
Frae  Newcastle  toun  they  had  been  sent, 

A'  English  lads  baith  stout  and  true. 

But  when  the  land-sergeant x  the  water  saw, 

"  It  winna  ride,  my  lads,"  says  he  ; 
Then  cried  aloud — "  The  prisoner  take, 

But  leave  the  fetters,  I  pray,  to  me." — 

"  I  wat  weel  no,"  quo'  the  Laird's  ain  Jock, 

"  I'll  keep  them  a'  ;  shoon  to  my  mare  they'll  be  ; 

My  gude  bay  mare — for  I  am  sure, 

She  has  bought  them  a'  right  dear  frae  thee." — 

Sae  now  they  are  on  to  Liddesdale, 

E'en  as  fast  as  they  could  them  hie  ; 
The  prisoner  is  brought  to's  ain  fireside, 

And  there  o's  aims  they  mak  him  free. 

"Now,  Jock,  my  billy,"  quo'  a'  the  three, 
"  The  day  is  corned  thou  wast  to  die  ; 

But  thou's  as  weel  at  thy  ain  ingle-side, 
Now  sitting,  I  think,  'twixt  thee  and  me." 

1  The  land-sergeant  (mentioned  also  in  Hobbie  Noble)  was  an 
officer  under  the  warden,  to  whom  was  committed  the  appre- 
hending of  delinquents,  and  the  care  of  the  public  peace. 


159 


THE  BATTLE  OF  BOTHWELL  BRIDGE 

"  O,  billie,  billie,  bonny  billie, 

Will  ye  go  to  the  wood  wi'  me  ? 
We'll  ca'  our  horse  hame  masterless, 

An'  gar  them  trow  slain  men  are  we." — 

"  O  no,  O  no  !  "  says  Earlstoun, 

"  For  that's  the  thing  that  mauna  be  ; 

For  I  am  sworn  to  Bothwell  Hill, 
Where  I  maun  either  gae  or  die." — 

So  Earlstoun  rose  in  the  morning, 
An'  mounted  by  the  break  o'  day  ; 

An'  he  has  joined  our  Scottish  lads, 
As  they  were  marching  out  the  way. 

"  Now  farewell,  father,  and  farewell  mother, 
And  fare  ye  weel,  my  sisters  three ; 

An'  fare  ye  weel,  my  Earlstoun, 
For  thee  again  I'll  never  see  !  " — 

So  they're  awa'  to  Bothwell  Hill, 

An'  waly  they  rode  bonnily  ! 
When  the  Duke  o'  Monmouth  saw  them  comin', 

He  went  to  view  their  company. 
1 60 


THE  BATTLE  OF  BOTHWELL  BRIDGE 

"  Ye're  welcome  lads/'  the  Monmouth  said, 
"  Ye're  welcome,  brave  Scots  lads,  to  me  ; 

And  sae  are  you,  brave  Earlstoun, 
The  foremost  o'  your  company  ! 

"  But  yield  your  weapons  ane  an  a'  ; 

O  yield  your  weapons,  lads,  to  me  ; 
For  gin  ye' 11  yield  your  weapons  up, 

Ye'se  a'  gae  hame  to  your  country." — 

Out  then  spak  a  Lennox  lad, 

And  waly  but  he  spoke  bonnily  ! 

"  I  winna  yield  my  weapons  up, 

To  you  nor  nae  man  that  I  see." — 

Then  he  set  up  the  flag  o'  red, 

A'  set  about  wi'  bonny  blue  ; 
"  Since  ye'll  no  cease,  and  be  at  peace, 

See  that  ye  stand  by  ither  true."— 

They  stell'd  their  cannons  on  the  height, 
And  showr'd  their  shot  down  in  the  howe  ; 

An'  beat  our  Scots  lads  even  down, 
Thick  they  lay  slain  on  every  knowe. 

As  e'er  you  saw  the  rain  down  fa', 
Or  yet  the  arrow  frae  the  bow — 

Sae  our  Scottish  lads  fell  even  down, 
An'  they  lay  slain  on  every  knowe. 

"  O  hold  your  hand,"  then  Monmouth  cry'd, 
"  Gie  quarters  to  yon  men  for  me  !  " — 

But  wicked  Claver'se  swore  an  oath, 
His  Comet's  death  revenged  sud  be. 

T.  161 


APPENDIX 

"O  hold  your  hand,"  then  Monmouth  cry'd, 

"  If  onything  you'll  do  for  me  ; 
Hold  up  your  hand,  you  cursed  Gramme, 

Else  a  rebel  to  our  King  ye'll  be." — 

Then  wicked  Claver'se  turn'd  about, 

I  wot  an  angry  man  was  he  ; 
And  he  has  lifted  up  his  hat, 

And  cry'd,  "  God  bless  His  Majesty  !  " — 

Then  he's  awa'  to  London  town, 
Aye  e'en  as  fast  as  he  can  dree  ; 

Fause  witnesses  he  has  wi'  him  fa' en, 

And  ta'en  Monmouth's  head  frae  his  body. 

Alang  the  brae,  beyond  the  brig, 

Mony  brave  man  lies  cauld  and  still ; 

But  lang  we'll  mind,  and  sair  we'll  rue, 
The  bloody  battle  of  Bothwell  Hill. 


162 


THE  DiEMON-LOVER 

"  O  where  have  you  been,  my  long,  long  love, 
This  long  seven  years  and  more?  " — 

"  O  I'm  come  to  seek  my  former  vows 
Ye  granted  me  before." — 

"  O  hold  your  tongue  of  your  former  vows, 
For  they  will  breed  sad  strife ; 

0  hold  your  tongue  of  your  former  vows, 
For  I  am  become  a  wife." 

He  turn'd  him  right  and  round  about, 

And  the  tear  blinded  his  ee  ; 
"  I  wad  never  hae  trodden  on  Irish  ground, 

If  it  had  not  been  for  thee. 

"  I  might  hae  had  a  king's  daughter, 
Far,  far  beyond  the  sea  ; 

1  might  have  had  a  king's  daughter, 

Had  it  not  been  for  love  o'  thee." — 

"  If  ye  might  have  had  a  king's  daughter, 

Yersell  ye  had  to  blame  ; 
Ye  might  have  taken  the  king's  daughter, 

For  ye  kend  that  I  was  nane." — 
163 


APPENDIX 

"  O  faulse  are  the  vows  of  womankind, 

But  fair  is  their  faulse  bodie  ; 
I  neverwad  hae  trodden  on  Irish  ground, 

Had  it  not  been  for  love  o'  thee." — 

"  If  I  was  to  leave  my  husband  dear, 

And  my  two  babes  also, 
O  what  have  you  to  take  me  to, 

If  with  you  I  should  go  ?  " — 

"  I  hae  seven  ships  upon  the  sea, 
The  eighth  brought  me  to  land  ; 

With  four-and-twenty  bold  mariners, 
And  music  on  every  hand." 

She  has  taken  up  her  two  little  babes, 
Kiss'd  them  baith  cheek  and  chin  ; 

"  O  fare  ye  weel,  my  ain  two  babes, 
For  I'll  never  see  you  again." 

She  set  her  foot  upon  the  ship, 
No  mariners  could  she  behold  ; 

But  the  sails  were  o'  the  taffetie, 
And  the  masts  o'  the  beaten  gold. 

She  had  not  sail'd  a  league,  a  league, 

A  league  but  barely  three, 
When  dismal  grew  his  countenance, 

And  drumlie  grew  his  ee. 

The  masts  that  were  like  the  beaten  gold, 
Bent  not  on  the  heaving  seas ; 

But  the  sails,  that  were  o'  the  taffetie, 
Fill'd  not  in  the  east  land  breeze. 
164 


THE  D^MON-LOVER 

They  had  not  sailed  a  league,  a  league, 

A  league  but  barely  three, 
Until  she  espied  his  cloven  foot, 

And  she  wept  right  bitterlie. 

"  O  hold  your  tongue  of  your  weeping,"  says  he, 
"  Of  your  weeping  now  let  me  be  ; 

I  will  show  you  how  the  lilies  grow 
On  the  banks  of  Italy." — 

"  O  what  hills  are  yon,  yon  pleasant  hills, 
That  the  sun  shines  sweetly  on  ?  " — 

"  O  yon  are  the  hills  of  heaven,"  he  said, 
"Where  you  will  never  win." — 

"  O  whaten  a  mountain  is  yon,"  she  said, 
"  All  so  dreary  wi'  frost  and  snow  ?  " — 

"  O  yon  is  the  mountain  of  hell,"  he  cried, 
"Where  you  and  I  will  go." 

And  aye  when  she  turn'd  her  round  about, 

Aye  taller  he  seem'd  for  to  be  ; 
Until  that  the  tops  o'  that  gallant  ship 

Nae  taller  were  than  he. 

The  clouds  grew  dark,  and  the  wind  grew  loud, 

And  the  levin  fill'd  her  ee  ; 
And  waesome  wail'd  the  snaw-white  sprites 

Upon  the  gurlie  sea. 

He  strack  the  tap-mast  wi'  his  hand, 

The  foremast  wi'  his  knee ; 
And  he  brake  that  gallant  ship  in  twain, 

And  sank  her  in  the  sea. 

I65 


JOHNIE  OF  BREAD1SLEE 

Jomnie  rose  up  in  a  May  morning, 
Call'd  for  water  to  wash  his  hands — 

"  Gar  loose  to  me  the  gude  graie  dogs, 
That  are  bound  wi'  iron  bands." — 

When  Johnie's  mother  gat  word  o'  that, 
Her  hands  for  dule  she  wrang — 

"  O  Johnie  !  for  my  benison, 
To  the  greenwood  dinna  gang  ! 

"  Eneugh  ye  hae  o'  gude  wheat  bread, 
And  eneugh  o'  the  blood-red  wine  ; 

And,  therefore,  for  nae  venison,  Johnie, 
I  pray  ye,  stir  frae  hame." — 

But  Johnie's  busk't  up  his  gude  bend  bow, 

His  arrows,  ane  by  ane  ; 
And  he  has  gane  to  Durrisdeer, 

To  hunt  the  dun  deer  down. 

As  he  came  down  by  Merriemass 

And  in  by  the  benty  line, 
There  has  he  espied  a  deer  lying 

Aneath  a  bush  of  ling. 
1 66 


JOHNIE  OF  BREADISLEE 

Johnie  he  shot,  and  the  dun  deer  lap, 
And  he  wounded  her  on  the  side  ; 

But,  atween  the  water  and  the  brae, 
His  hounds  they  laid  her  pride. 

And  Johnie  has  bryttled  the  deer  sae  weel, 
That  he's  had  out  her  liver  and  lungs ; 

And  wi'  these  he  has  feasted  his  bluidy  hounds, 
As  if  they  had  been  earl's  sons. 

They  ate  sae  much  o'  the  venison, 
And  drank  sae  much  o'  the  blude, 

That  Johnie  and  a'  his  bluidy  hounds 
Fell  asleep  as  they  had  been  dead. 

And  by  there  came  a  silly  auld  carle, 

An  ill  death  mote  he  die ! 
For  he's  awa'  to  Hislinton, 

Where  the  Seven  Foresters  did  lie. 

"  What  news,  what  news,  ye  grey-headed  carle, 

What  news  bring  ye  to  me  ?  " — 
"  I  bring  nae  news,"  said  the  grey-headed  cai'le, 

"  Save  what  these  eyes  did  see. 

<e  As  I  came  down  by  Merriemass, 

And  down  among  the  scroggs,1 
The  bonniest  childe  that  ever  I  saw 

Lay  sleeping  amang  his  dogs. 

"  The  shirt  that  was  upon  his  back 
Was  o'  the  Holland  fine  ; 

1  Scrozes — Stunted  trees. 


".i^ 


167 


APPENDIX 

The  doublet  which  was  over  that 
Was  o'  the  lincome  twine. 

"  The  buttons  that  were  on  his  sleeve 
Were  o'  the  goud  sae  glide ; 

The  gude  graie  hounds  he  lay  amang, 
Their  mouths  were  dyed  wi'  blude."- 

Then  out  and  spake  the  First  Forester, 
The  heid  man  ower  them  a' — 

"  If  this  be  Johnie  o'  Breadislee, 
Nae  nearer  will  we  draw." — 

But  up  and  spak  the  Sixth  Forester, 

(His  sister's  son  was  he,) 
"  If  this  be  Johnie  o'  Breadislee, 

We  soon  shall  ear  him  die  !  " 


»i 


The  first  flight  of  arrows  the  Foresters  shot. 

They  wounded  him  on  the  knee  ; 
And  out  and  spak  the  Seventh  Forester, 

"  The  next  will  gar  him  die." 

Johnie's  set  his  back  against  an  aik, 

His  fute  against  a  stane  ; 
And  he  has  slain  the  Seven  Foresters, 

He  has  slain  them  a'  but  ane. 

He  has  broke  three  ribs  in  that  ane's  side, 

But  and  his  collar  bane  ; 
He's  laid  him  twa-fald  ower  his  steed, 

Bade  him  carry  the  tidings  hame. 
168 


JOHNIE  OF  BREADISLEE 

"  O  is  there  nae  a  bonnie  bird, 

Can  sing  as  I  can  say  ; 
Could  flee  away  to  my  mother's  bower, 

And  tell  to  fetch  Johnie  away  ?  " — l 

The  starling  flew  to  his  mother's  window  stane, 

It  whistled  and  it  sang  ; 
And  aye  the  ower  word  o'  the  tune 

Was — "  Johnie  tarries  lang  !  " 

They  made  a  rod  o'  hazel  bush, 

Another  o'  the  slae-thorn  tree, 
And  mony,  mony  were  the  men 

At  the  fetching  o'er  Johnie. 

Then  out  and  spak  his  auld  mother, 

And  fast  her  tears  did  fa' — 
"  Ye  wad  nae  be  warn'd,  my  son  Johnie, 

Frae  the  hunting  to  bide  awa'. 

"  Aft  hae  I  brought  to  Breadislee, 

The  less  gear  and  the  mair, 
But  I  ne'er  brought  to  Breadislee, 

What  grieved  my  heart  sae  sair. 

1  [Perhaps  here  should  be  inserted  the  beautiful  stanza  pre- 
served by  Finlay,  so  descriptive,  as  he  remarks,  of  the  languor 
of  death : 

"  There's  no  a  bird  in  a'  this  forest 
Will  do  as  meikle  for  me, 
As  dip  its  wing  in  the  wan  water, 
And  straik  it  on  my  ee-bree." 

Motherwell,  p.  22.] 

169 


APPENDIX 

"  But  wae  betyde  that  silly  auld  carle  ! 

An  ill  death  shall  he  die ! 
For  the  highest  tree  in  Merriemas 

Shall  be  his  morning's  fee." 

Now  Johnie's  gude  bend  bow  is  broke, 
And  his  gude  graie  dogs  are  slain  ; 

And  his  bodie  lies  dead  in  Durrisdeer, 
And  his  hunting  it  is  done. 


Printed  by  Morrison  &  Gibb  Limited,  Edinburgh 
I70 


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